King of Ridge Crest Prep
by Pochacco906
Summary: Edward Cullen is the most popular guy in school but he's had a crush on Bella Swan for three years now. Will he finally man up? Companion Story to Ridge Crest Prep. EPOV. Must read Ridge Crest Prep first. All Human. AU. Canon Couples.
1. Sway

**You must read Ridge Crest Prep first or this story won't make any sense. **

**Thanks to the best beta, SavageWoman, for helping me with this story!!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Twilight. ****I do own the storyline and any characters that I make up.**

**Summary – **Set in Los Angeles at Ridge Crest Prep, a boarding school for the rich and famous. Bella Swan is starting her senior year. She's smart and shy and your typical normal teenage girl who just gets caught up in her daydreams. She's had a crush on the school's most popular guy, Edward Cullen, for the past three years now. But she's never spoken one word to him. Will she finally get the nerve to talk to him before the end of her senior year? Or will her shyness overcome her? What happens when three new students come to the school? Will she have the best year of her high school life? Or the worst? Or will it just fly by with her leaving off to college without ever getting to know the famous Edward Cullen?

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**Chapter 1 – Sway**

Song – Sway by Bic Runga

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Two words.

Edward Cullen.

That name did two things at my insane high school, Ridge Crest Prep.

One, it caused random girls to scream at the top of their lungs and follow me around like lost puppies and two, it scared away the one and only girl that I ever wanted attention from.

That was me.

I had attended this school since my freshmen year, and it was now two weeks until my senior year was supposed to start.

I was the model student, quarterback of the football team, captain of the basketball team, straight-A honor student. And this year, after three years of being involved with ASB, I was finally President.

I wouldn't deny that I was good at a lot of things. But there was one thing that I wasn't good at. And that was talking to the one girl that I had set my eye on three years ago.

Sure, I received a lot of attention from girls, but I never really gave it any consideration. If anything, it annoyed the hell out of me. I'm sure any guy would love it, but I was over the crazy obsessed fan girls. Solely focused on my main goal of getting into Stanford and going to law school, I didn't need any distractions.

I was going to change that this year though, mainly because Alice would kill me if I let it go. But also because I finally decided to grow some balls and man up.

I vowed to myself that the one thing I would do this year before I graduate was to talk to Isabella Swan.

I remembered the first time that I saw her. It was the first day of moving into the dorms on campus.

_--Flashback-- _

_I was standing by my mom's Black Mercedes S500 gathering my things from the trunk. I ignored the ogling from several girls checking out the fresh meat. _

_I went back to grabbing my things when I heard a beautiful laugh coming from the opposite side of the parking lot. It sounded like music to my ears. I turned to see a small petite girl with long brown hair step out of a silver Range Rover. She was still laughing, but I didn't get a chance to see her face because I was too far away. _

_I didn't think much of it so I went back to grabbing my things and heading toward the dorms. I saw her walking off toward the female dorms with her back facing me. _

_It wasn't until I heard her dad calling her name that I saw her turn around. _

Bella._ The name suited her perfectly. _

_The moment I saw her, the earth stood still__ and I watched her from a far. She had pale skin similar to my skin tone. She had a heart shaped face with the big, brown, doe-like eyes and a cute button nose. _

_It felt like someone took my breath away as I stood there ogling__ her. Luckily, she didn't see me but my mom caught me staring. _

"_Honey, what are you looking at?" _

_My mom, Esme, had long caramel-colored hair and striking green eyes – the same green eyes that I inherited from her. _

"_Nothing, Mom__,__" I replied sounding flustered. _

"_I know that look." My mom turned her head toward Bella's direction. _

"_She's cute, Edward. You should talk to her." _

_I groaned, "Mom!"_

_--End of Flashback--_

Of course, after that day my mom teased me endlessly about Bella and asked me every time that we talked on the phone if I had talked to her. And sadly, each time my reply was no. I sensed my mom's disappointment but I had my reasons.

I recalled that first day of lunch like it was yesterday.

_--Flashback—_

_I had just met Steve, Mark, Brian, and Scott who, just like me, were planning to try out for the football team. We became fast friends and ended up sitting together at a table in the food court. I looked around scanning the students hoping to find Bella. _

_I secretly prayed__ that we had classes together, but so far I didn't have any luck. As the guys started taking out their lunches, my breath stopped when I saw her sitting at a table on the side. _

_She had her face buried in the school newspaper. It was cute. _

_She didn't seem like the typical girl at RCP. And after having a ton of them come up to me this morning, she seemed different than all the rest. _

"_That's Bella Swan," Steve said breaking my gaze. _

_Oh, so that was her last name. Swan. _

"_Yeah, apparently, she's hands off though but nice eye candy," Mark commented while raising his eyebrows. _

"_What do you mean she's hands off?" I asked nonchalantly hoping they wouldn't notice my interest. _

"_There are rumors going around that she's with that Jasper Hale guy," Mark replied. _

_Just then, I saw a tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy sit down next to her. I saw her face light up into a bright smile and felt sick to my stomach. _

_Was he her boyfriend? Who was he?_

_I sat there throwing glances in their direction, watching them silently for the entire lunch hour. I felt like a stalker but I was curious what their relationship was. They seemed close but it was confusing. They also seemed closed off to meeting other people. It was like they were both in their own little bubble and didn't want anyone to break into it. _

_The rest of the day, my thoughts focused completely on Bella. It turned out that I didn't have any classes with her and with the massive size of the school; I barely saw her walking in the hallways. _

_I figured what was meant to be was meant to be. With me concentrating so much on her, I barely focused on my classes and I knew that I couldn't afford any distractions. _

_--End of Flashback--_

It was then that I decided I would only admire her from a far and whatever happened would happen. Of course, after three years of nothing, I realized I needed to change my plan of attack. I always hoped we would have at least one class together but I felt the curse of bad luck because we never did.

And there was still the ongoing question about Bella and Jasper being a couple. Everyone assumed they were together. There was an article in the paper back during freshman year that claimed they were a couple and then broke up a few months after that but they never acted any differently toward each other. It was always the same interaction and that troubled me.

They still seemed closed off to socializing with everyone. It seemed like they were just determined to go to high school and get it over with as soon as possible. They never went to any dances, any sports games, or any parties. Nothing. They weren't social outcasts. Even though everyone talked about them, Tanya's column rarely mentioned them.

The girls would secretly fawn over Jasper while the guys would make inappropriate comments about Bella. Of course, it would piss me off but I tried my best to hide my true feelings.

Every day I observed them during lunch, and every day I would come up with the same questions that would plague my mind. I would shake my head and push away the thoughts to focus on all the school stuff that I was involved with.

But the one conclusion, I did come up with was that they only wanted to keep to themselves not wanting any part of being in the spotlight.

Eventually, my mom blabbed to Alice about my secret crush and Alice never missed an opportunity to torment me about it. Even though she was thousands of miles away in Paris, she still got under my skin.

Of course, it turned out that Alice was moving back to Los Angeles this year and would be attending her senior year with me at RCP. That would shake up things a bit. And I only hoped that my sister would not embarrass me in front of Bella.

Alice was coming in this afternoon, so I decided to go to the bookstore to grab a few supplies and books to get ready for the school year.

Secretly, I had other intentions of going to the bookstore. I knew that Bella worked there. But every time I went, she was never at the cash register, which never gave me the chance to talk to her.

I walked out of my dorm and headed to the bookstore. I quickly dodged Lauren Mallory who was walking back to her dorm. She was extremely annoying.

For some reason, she set her sights on me and refused to leave me alone. Every chance she got, she would try to flirt with me or talk to me. I was thankful I never had any classes with her. Though I did have to see her at all my games because she was a cheerleader, and to make matters worse, this year she was cheer captain.

I knew she hooked up with more than half the guys at this school and other schools as well. She was never my type – like I would go for a walking STD.

_Phew!_ She walked past me not noticing that I was there.

I walked up to the entrance of the bookstore and stepped in. I scanned the various aisles. I knew that Bella was usually the one stocking shelves, so I thought I would try the classics section first.

I ended up selecting a few books that I wanted and a few more supplies. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't find her in the bookstore.

Maybe she wasn't working today.

I stood in the long line waiting to pay for my items, not paying much attention to anything around me until I was about two to three people away from the cashier. I looked up and my heart started pounding faster in my chest. There she was standing there in front of me.

I was starting to get nervous. I was never any good talking to girls aside from my friends, mainly because most of them, albeit the fan girls, aggravated the hell out of me, but this was different. My hands started to sweat.

_Play it cool, Edward! _

I counted down the minutes until I got to the front of the line. She still hadn't looked up yet. She seemed preoccupied with trying to get everyone out the door. I placed my items on the counter and she started scanning them without looking up. I was so nervous I didn't know what to say. This was my first time being this close to her. I might even have the opportunity to talk to her. Thoughts were running through my head.

_How's it going? Nah. Too original._

_How's your day been? Nope. She's been working at the bookstore all day._

_Argh!_ I was at a complete loss for words.

Then she spoke and nearly knocked me off my feet. I've only heard her voice whenever I would pass her in the hallways or walk by her table at lunch. But now she was talking directly to me.

"Good choice for the books. Those are my favorites," she said.

I was surprised that she liked the same books I did. I already knew we had similar tastes in music because I would read her weekly article in the school's newspaper. She was a great writer and, in a way, it was my way of getting to know who she was these past three years.

_Say something! _

"I agree. Those are mine as well," I choked out.

Then she slowly looked up and our eyes locked. The big brown chocolate eyes that I always dreamed about were looking back into mine.

I wasn't sure how long we stood there but Jasper came over and nudged her, breaking our gaze.

Why did he nudge her? Were they still together?

All the confusing questions drifted back into my head as Bella went back to staring at the register.

"Um… your… um… total comes out to $56.65," she stammered.

I could see her face flush red.

Did I do that her?

I knew that I could affect girls, but I was more surprised that I could affect Bella. She concentrated on putting my things in a bag before handing it to me. She was still staring at the register.

I wasn't sure what happened. One moment we were looking at each other and the next moment she found the register more interesting.

I signed internally. I grabbed the bag and said, "Thanks Bella!"

I saw her head shoot straight up as I threw her my crooked smile and walked out of the bookstore.

As I stepped outside, my heart was beating frantically and my palms were sweating. At least I finally had the guts to talk to her even if it was only briefly.

* * *

**KNOCK! KNOCK!**

"Come in!" I yelled.

Alice opened my door and skipped into my dorm room.

"You know, I could've helped you move in," I said to my sister.

"I had the movers help me. Don't worry about it. Are you hungry?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, let's go to _California Pizza Kitchen_."

She nodded her head as we left the building and walked toward the on-campus mall.

A lot of people were staring at us and I had a feeling I knew why. It was my first time in public alone with a girl. I only talked to girls in groups with other people. I never wanted Tanya's column to suspect anything so I was always careful.

I was sure everyone was wondering who Alice was. They would find out sooner or later and then hopefully the fascination would die down. I wasn't a big fan of attention, but I knew it came with the territory. I never dwelled in it and I didn't let it bother me too much.

As we walked to _CPK_ and sat down in a booth, I could see people taking pictures of us on their cell phones. The picture taking part was definitely irritating.

"Edward, why is everyone taking pictures of us?" Alice whispered to me from across the table.

"Remember how I told you about Tanya's column?" She nodded her head.

"It's for the column. They are probably just wondering who you are and why I'm with you," I said.

"Oooo, maybe they think I'm you're girlfriend," she teased.

"I doubt it," I mumbled into my menu, not giving it much thought.

"Am I the first girl you've ever been pictured with?" Alice asked scrunching her eyebrows in confusion.

"Well, I've been pictured with girls before but in group settings. This is the first time I've ever been pictured _alone_ with a girl," I replied.

"Wow, so you really meant it when you said that you don't talk to girls, huh?" she mused.

"Yes. I told you Alice. I don't need any distractions and most of them are annoying," I supplied with a shrug.

"Fine but you could've warned me about all the attention. I would've worn something nicer!" she scolded.

Leave it to my sister to care about what she's wearing. After we ordered, we chatted about her flight.

"Let's go watch a movie after this!" she squealed.

"Aren't you tired from the jet lag?" I asked.

"No!"

Then she looked around making sure no one was listening. "Did you talk to Bella yet?" she asked with a smile.

My mom never gave up on asking me all these years and Alice jumped at any chance she could get to ask me.

I told her about the bookstore incident and she was practically jumping up and down in her seat.

"Edward! That's great news! You finally talked to her after all these years! That's progress!" she squealed.

"Alice, can you keep your voice down? I don't want anyone else to hear us! And just saying that I liked the same books as her, telling her thanks, and saying her name doesn't really constitute as talking to her," I hissed.

"Fine! But that's good news though, you should be happy about it! At least you manned up. I was beginning to think you were gay!"

"I am not gay, Alice," I grumbled under my breath before letting out a sigh. "I just don't know

what to make of that conversation. Jasper came over and nudged her and then she wouldn't look at me again. The whole exchange was just… weird."

"You're thinking about it too much," Alice sneered.

Maybe I was over-thinking it a bit.

My eyes widened as I saw Bella and Jasper walk into the restaurant. Alice noticed the change in my demeanor and looked in the same direction.

"Is that Bella?" she asked.

"Yes and please stop looking over at them," I muttered turning to look back at the food in front of me.

"She's really cute, Edward. You have to go talk to her," Alice chirped still staring at them. It looked more like she was ogling Jasper.

"No. Let's just finish eating and we'll go watch a movie," I added quickly.

I saw from the corner of my eye that Bella and Jasper sat in a booth closer to the front of the restaurant. They were laughing and talking.

"Is that Jasper?" Alice asked in awe.

"Yes," I replied.

"Wow," she said sounding breathless. I knew she would fall for him. He was exactly her type. I just hoped that Bella and he weren't dating so that Alice could have a chance. But that hope was more for my sake than for Alice.

I saw the server take their order and leave. I thought I caught Bella staring in our direction but she quickly looked away.

I saw Jasper ask her something and look toward our direction and then back toward her. They were talking again. That was odd.

"Are they a couple, Edward?" Alice queried.

"I don't know. No one does but everyone just assumes they are a couple. What do you think?" I was curious what her thoughts would be.

"I'm not sure," she said staring at them trying to figure out what they were to each other based on their interactions.

"They look like they're just friends from what I can tell but who knows," she said.

For the rest of dinner, I chanced a few peeks toward Bella's direction at the corner of my eye. On occasion, I saw Jasper glancing over in our direction as well. Was he looking at Alice?

At one point, I saw Bella's face fall into a frown and her shoulders slump over. What did that mean?

Did she catch Alice looking over at Jasper? Was she upset that Jasper was looking over in our direction? The entire exchange was just too confusing and frustrating.

After a few minutes, Alice and I got up and left. Luckily, I was able to convince her that there were stores outside for her to shop at before the movie so she would stop staring at Bella and Jasper's table.

After going to a few stores, we were standing in line to buy our movie tickets. There were more stares and whispers. I sighed starting to get annoyed. I could hear the cell phone camera clicks going off behind me.

After buying the two tickets, we split up and went to the restrooms.

I came out and saw that Jasper was in line to buy food at the concession stand.

"What do you want?" I asked Alice as I stood in the same line.

"Can you get me a soda and popcorn? I'll go in and get the seats," she offered.

"Okay, I'll see you in there."

She turned and walked into the theater room. I saw Jasper ordering food and wondered if he was here with Bella and if they were watching the same movie as us.

Maybe this way I can figure out if they were together or not. Surely, if they were he would put his arm around her or something. God, I'm resorting to having to spy on them in a movie theater. This was a new low for me.

I saw him leave and didn't notice where he walked off to. I didn't want to get caught staring after him.

I ordered two sodas and popcorn before heading into the movie theater. It was crowded and I scanned the room for Alice. As soon as I saw Bella and Jasper, my heart started pounding faster. And, of course, Alice was sitting right next to Bella.

I was going to kill my sister. What was she planning on doing?

I slowly walked over to the row and saw Bella and Jasper whispering to each other. I wasn't sure what they were saying, but it looked more like they were mouthing something. Maybe they didn't want Alice to hear what they were saying.

"Excuse me, can I get through?" I said, realizing

it was probably a good time for me to say something else to her now that she was so close.

_How was dinner? Did you like the food? _

Were those really the only lines that I could come up with? God, I am pretty pathetic.

While I was struggling with thoughts of what I could say to her, I noticed that she

didn't look up at me, which made me even more confused. It reminded me of how she acted at the bookstore and I wasn't sure what to think of it. She had to have known that I was the one Alice was saving a seat for, but why was she ignoring me? I couldn't quite put my finger on it but I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that she didn't like me, and I wasn't sure if I had done something wrong.

She scooted up her legs just enough for me to get by as I walked past her and sat down next to Alice.

Alice gave me a questioning glance as I shrugged my shoulders. Just then, the movie started making it next to impossible to hear any sounds coming from where Bella was sitting.

The next two hours seemed uncomfortable to say the least. I tried to observe Bella and Jasper's behavior but didn't see anything that would confirm them as a couple. The only weird thing I caught was that Jasper would keep jumping in his seat every time he would turn his head toward our direction. It was too dark to see what the cause of it was.

_Strange._ I wasn't sure if he was looking at us or more at Alice.

As soon as the movie finished, Bella jumped up from her seat, grabbed Jasper's arm and pulled him out of the theater as quickly as possible.

"What was that about?" Alice asked me.

"I don't know. Did you think it was strange the way they were acting?" I asked.

"I noticed Jasper jumping a lot and I swore I saw Bella pinching him. That was actually kind of funny," Alice said giggling.

We started walking back to the dorms as we continued talking.

"Do you think I did anything wrong?" I asked Alice.

"Why would you think that?" She scrunched up her face in confusion.

I ran a hand through my hair. A nervous habit of mine.

"Well, when I came over to sit down, she didn't bother looking up at me. She just ignored me. It's just odd."

"Maybe she's just different from other girls. I'm sure she's nothing like your fan girls, Edward. Did you really think that she would instantly fall in love with _the_ 'Great Edward Cullen'?" Alice mocked and rolled her eyes at me.

I was about to say something in my defense but she continued,

"Really, you could've said something to her yourself instead of expecting her to make the first move. You really need to do something about that. Otherwise, just give it time. She'll warm up to you. That is if you get the balls enough to talk to her again," Alice teased.

I hoped Alice was right and that Bella would eventually warm up to me. I was just wondering how many times it would take me to break through to her – not that I was ready to give up. It was hardly the case but the timing bothered me. When would there be another time for me to talk to her again? School was still two weeks away and I only hoped that I would get my chance.

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**Please Review and Thanks for Reading! **


	2. I'm Shakin'

**A/N: I got a lot of reviews and alerts for this that it completely threw me out of my chair! I wasn't expecting to get such a big response. Well, I'm glad to know that you're liking my attempt in EPOV. I hope it's manly enough ... **

**Now, I'm sure everyone is wondering what was going on through Edward's head during football tryouts so here it is! I hope you like it! **

**You must read Ridge Crest Prep first in order to read this story or it won't make any sense.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Twilight or Ally McBeal. I do own the storyline and any characters that I make up.**

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**Chapter 2 – I'm Shakin'**

Song – I'm Shakin' by Rooney

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I was checking my email in my room and saw that Brian forwarded me a link of a video on YouTube. I clicked on it and saw Emmett Swan scaring the shit out of Mike Newton at Johnny Rockets. It already had close to 5,000 hits. It was hilarious.

I definitely wasn't a fan of Mike Newton. I knew he constantly tried to pursue Bella. He would gloat about it in the locker room. Not that he got anywhere with her though. Everyone knew she hated him. The guy was a douche bag. It was hard being on the same football team with him and having to be civil. For some reason, he always found a way to get on my nerves.

I was surprised to see Emmett on campus. I knew he was Bella's older brother and that he was Captain of the Football team at Hilltop Prep last year. He was also a senior so shouldn't he be off to college?

We played his team each year and he always seemed to be a nice guy. I didn't know him too well. He seemed intimidating due to this size but I knew he was a jokester.

I grabbed my jacket and headed out to _Chili's_ to meet up with Alice, Mark and Brian for dinner. I walked into the restaurant and found them sitting in the back.

"Hey guys! Nice forward!" I said as I punched fists with Brian.

He laughed. "Wasn't it hilarious?"

We all nodded our heads in agreement.

"Why do you think Emmett Swan is here on campus?" Mark asked.

"No clue." Brian said.

"Maybe he's visiting Bella or something." I guessed.

After we ordered our food, we sat watching the Patriots vs. Steelers game on TV. Alice was scanning the restaurant and then kicked me under the table.

"OW!" I yelled jumping in my seat to rub my shin.

Brian and Mark looked at us curiously.

"Sorry about that." She mumbled.

Once Brian and Mark turned their attention back to the TV, I faced Alice narrowing my eyes at her. She slowly moved her head toward the front of the restaurant trying to signal to me to look over in that direction.

I turned and stared in the direction she was pointing at. I saw Bella sitting in the booth with Emmett, Rose and Jasper. Bella and Jasper were sitting next to each other.

I knew Rose was Emmett's girlfriend. She was usually the main topic of every locker room changing session. The guys drooled over her and she didn't even go to our school. I admit that she was pretty but definitely not my type.

Were they on a double date?

I saw Alice throw her fork on the floor as she ducked down under the table. Then I felt her yank my arm pulling me with her.

"Gah! What are you doing?" I whispered under the table.

"You should go over there!" She hissed trying to make sure that Brian and Mark wouldn't notice what we were doing.

"No! They look like they are on a double date or something. I'm not going over there!"

"Edward! You have to talk to her again and this is the best time to do it. Stop being stubborn and just go over there!" She ordered.

"What are you guys doing down there?" Brian asked.

Alice and I sat straight up back in our seats.

"Oh nothing. I dropped my fork. Silly me! Edward bent down to help me get it." She played it off.

Brian didn't question it and went back to watching the game. Alice then glared at me and motioned her eyes toward the front of the restaurant practically screaming at me to go.

Right when I was about to get up, I looked over at Bella's table and saw Lauren Mallory trying to talk to Emmett who was too engrossed in the game to notice her.

I turned back toward Alice shaking my head.

"No! There is no way I'm going now!" I mouthed to her.

She turned and eyed Lauren. I told her about how crazy Lauren was but she wouldn't believe me until she saw Lauren herself.

Alice rolled her eyes at me. "Fine!" She mouthed back.

Then we heard Rose and Lauren yelling. We all turned to see what was going on. People were taking pictures of them on their cell phones.

I saw Emmett stand up to get in between them and then Lauren walked off. Hopefully, she wouldn't walk toward the back of the restaurant or I would have to run and hide.

Once things died down, we finished our dinner. I tried to be discreet about my stolen glances toward Bella's table but Alice caught me every time and would throw me a smirk.

I sighed getting up from our table and making my way to the restroom.

"Yo, Edward!" I heard Emmett's booming voice as he came out from the restroom.

"Emmett." I said giving him a nod.

Now was my time to find out what he was doing here.

"What are you doing here?" I asked casually.

"I transferred here." He replied.

I gave him a curious look. Transferred here? He should have graduated last year.

"Yeah, I … um … didn't do too well my last year so I have to … um … repeat my senior year again." He said sounding hesitant. I could tell he felt uncomfortable for telling me about it.

"Eh, no worries. I won't say anything." I said.

He slapped his fist into my back.

Damn, the guy was strong, I had to give him that. I winced slightly.

"Thanks, man!" Emmett said.

"No problem. So are you going to be playing football here? The team could use you."

"Yeah, I was planning to join the football and basketball teams."

With Emmett here now, we would definitely have a chance at winning the championships.

"Good. Tryouts start Monday for football. Basketball tryouts are in December but the season doesn't start until January."

"Cool. I'll see you Monday then."

He stuck out his fist as I bumped it back and he turned to walk away. I looked at his retreating figure and saw that Bella, Rose and Jasper were watching us. I flashed them a smile. Rose and Jasper returned it but Bella looked away.

Maybe she didn't see me I thought as I headed toward the restrooms.

**

* * *

**

"Edward, this is your chance to find out more about Bella." Alice whined.

We were sitting in my room and football tryouts were supposed to start tomorrow. I told her that Emmett was going to RCP now and that he would be trying out for the football team. She was convinced that this was the perfect opportunity for me to get information about Bella.

"Alice, I can't just ask him questions about her. He'll get suspicious. And this is his younger sister we're talking about here. He could kill me with the snap of his fingers. He barely slapped me on the back at _Chili's_ and to be honest, it hurt." I said truthfully.

"Don't let him scare you away! You can get to know him and let him learn to trust you. Come on, Edward. Girls like it when you ask about them and know what they like before they even tell you. Trust me." She said.

She found it upon herself to be Alice the matchmaker and was determined. I was starting to get annoyed.

"Now, I'll be busy this week with preparations for Homecoming so I won't be able to go to watch your tryouts but you have to find a way to squeeze the information out of Emmett. I'm sure you'll think of something to make it not obvious. You're smart." She chirped.

"Squeeze the information out of Emmett? You make it sound like I'm going to be interrogating and threatening him for the information." I mumbled.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt if you took charge! This is your last year here and you have to make the effort, Edward. Or you're just going to brood yourself to death once you graduate about all the missed chances you had to talk to Bella. We are going to make the most of this year for you. And no BUTS!" She scolded.

With Alice's determination, I knew not to go against her.

How was I going to make this not obvious?

**

* * *

**

It was Monday and there was a huge group that showed up at tryouts. It looked like over a hundred students. It was like this every year so it was no surprise to me.

The stadium was filled with fan girls that each had their own cheering section. I thought it was ridiculous but some of the guys actually liked the attention. I hated it.

I spotted Rose sitting closer to the field and knew she was there to support Emmett. There was a small part of me that hoped that Bella would be coming too seeing that Rose and Emmett were both here. But when I looked around searching for the beautiful brown-eyed girl my heart sank. She was no show.

Coach Smith blew his whistle to quiet everyone down. Coach Smith was the Head Coach. The varsity team had two Assistant Coaches and a medic in case anything happened on the field.

"Listen up! I'm Coach Smith and welcome to the Ridge Crest Prep Lions Football Tryouts. We will be choosing varsity and junior varsity teams this week. There are a lot of you that showed up but we're only going to be choosing twenty players for each team. Junior varsity players, please follow Coach Bowman. Varsity players follow me. Good luck to all of you!"

With that most of the students left and followed Coach Bowman to the smaller field that was used for junior varsity practice. Our varsity tryout group was now down to a size of about forty students.

We were split into groups and immediately started doing drills. I could hear the chanting of the girls from the bleachers and Lauren's voice was the most nauseating of them all.

"God, does she ever shut it?" Emmett hissed next to me while we were sprinting.

I laughed. "Nope. You better get used to it. Once you make captain, she won't keep her paws off you."

He gave me a smirk. I knew he wanted to be captain. It only made sense since he was captain on his last team and from what I heard he was a really good captain. I was happy to step aside. I already had my duties for being captain of the basketball team to fulfil. I didn't need to add more to my list.

Hmmm ... Now seemed like a good time to ask about Bella.

I just had to figure out how to do it without him finding out about my infatuation with his sister.

"So Emmett."

"Yeah." He huffed panting.

"I see Rose is here. Where's Bella?" I huffed out.

Hopefully that was casual enough. I was just asking where she was.

He didn't seem to notice. "She said something about having to work on the school newspaper for next week's edition."

"Oh yeah, the first edition of the newspaper for the school year is always a big one." I added.

How was I going to do this? I could practically hear Alice's voice yelling at me in my head.

"_Just ask, Edward! Stop being such a pansy ass! "_

"So yeah, you know I saw Bella with you at _Chili's_ the other day. It doesn't seem like a restaurant she likes." I said trying to test the waters. I hoped I wasn't too obvious but it sounded more like I knew her and actually was her friend the way I was talking about her. Hopefully, he'll take the bait.

"Oh yeah, you know her. She loves her _Cheesecake Factory_."

Hook. Line. Sinker.

Alice would be so proud. I pretended that I already knew and nodded in agreement. I hated having to lie to Emmett but I was too curious not to stop. This method was working.

Maybe I could pretend that I knew her and that we were friends.

This could definitely work to my advantage.

**

* * *

**

It was Thursday now and Bella didn't show up all week. I was bummed about it but I was able to find out a few more things from Emmett about Bella and I was happy to say that I did it all discreetly.

He told me stories about them growing up and I could tell he loved being her older protective brother. I found out that her favorite flowers were tulips. It came from a story about how when they were younger Emmett bought her two red rubber lips from a party store thinking that she liked two lips versus tulips.

I had gotten to know Emmett more and he was definitely the life of the party. He made everyone laugh with his wisecrack comments and jokes.

We were a half hour into our drills when I heard some guys whispering. They were new at trying out this year. They didn't seem good enough to make it. If anything, it just seemed like they were checking out the seats for eye candy.

"Who's that?" One of the guys whispered to another.

"That's Bella Swan." The other guy replied.

At the sound of her name, my head snapped toward the direction they were staring at. And there she was. She looked surprised as she stood there staring at the fan girls. I hoped she thought they were annoying just like I did. But secretly deep down, I hoped that she did admire me even if it was in a fan girl way, I would be okay with that since it was Bella.

She caught sight of Rose and walked over to her followed by Jasper. Then I saw her surprised reaction as she took in the field and the stadium. It was her first time in the stadium. I knew because I never saw her here before.

I always searched for her at every game hoping that she would show. Of course it was nearly impossible to scan the crowds of thousands but for some reason deep down I always knew I would know if she was there.

Coach yelled at us to grab our helmets snapping myself out of the gaze. I grabbed my helmet and looked up toward her direction. She caught sight of me and I threw her a smile. She gave me a slight smile back and then I heard the two boys whispering again. I turned my attention to them.

"She's hot." One of the guys said.

I hated when other guys talked about her. It really pissed me off.

"Watch it. Her brother is right there and I don't think he'll appreciate you saying things like that about her." I sneered as they looked at Emmett and backed off looking scared.

That's show em!

"HEADS UP!" I heard Scott yell into the crowd.

I immediately turned back to see who he was yelling at. I saw a football flying toward Bella. I didn't know what I was doing but my body was running toward her. She looked dazed and confused. I thought she would dodge it but she didn't notice it coming toward her until it was too late.

**WHACK! **

I saw her small frame fall over the bleachers completely knocked out. Rose and some of the girls sitting in the nearby bleachers screamed. I got up to the bleachers in time before anyone else.

"Bella!! Are you okay?" I asked to a passed out Bella lying on the ground below me. I wanted to pick her up but I could hear Emmett's loud footsteps behind me and restrained myself from doing anything rash. I didn't want him to kill me.

"BELLA!" He yelled. Jasper jumped to her side trying to check if she was okay.

"Is she okay?" I asked Rose with concern. I could see her move slightly to the sound of our voices.

Coach Smith ran up along with the medic behind him. We circled around Bella looking down at her.

I could see her eyelids flutter open. She looked completely out of it. Her eyes went around the circle and when her eyes landed on me, she sat straight up.

"Ow!" She yelped while clutching her forehead.

"Lie back down!" The medic hissed and pushed her down.

"No, I'm fine!" She yelled pushing the medic off of her. I was about to scold her for not listening because I was mainly concerned about her and wanted her to listen to the medic but Emmett beat me to it.

"Bells! Listen to him and lie back down." Emmett yelled.

I saw her listen to her brother and felt relieved. The medic did a few tests on her and everything else was foggy as to what happened. My eyes were only focused on her and I could see a giant bump swell up on her forehead.

She kept insisting that she was fine but Rose, Jasper and Emmett were giving her disapproving looks. For the rest of the time, she didn't look at me and I didn't know why. It was like she pretended that I wasn't even there.

"Guys, we need someone to help her to the medical center." Coach said.

_Here was my chance. Just do it, Edward! _

"I'll take her." I offered.

I looked at her to gauge her reaction and it wasn't something I was expecting. She looked terrified.

WHY?

Again, the questions ran through my head. Did I do something to her to make her scared of me?

I saw Rose and Jasper smiling at Bella watching her cringe. Why were they happy about that?

"No, it's okay Edward. She's my sister, I have to make sure she's okay, just take care of Butterfingers over there." He hissed as he shot a death glared at a frightened Mike Newton.

As Emmett picked her up, she kept resisting against him. She was really stubborn. She seemed more stubborn than me.

People were taking pictures as they walked away and I was left standing there confused.

I closed my eyes and all I could see was Bella's frail body lying on the floor and the rage surged inside me. Mike did this to her. He hurt Bella. I walked up to him yelling.

"NEWTON! ARE YOU AN IDIOT? YOU KNOW WHY WE CALL YOU BUTTERFINGERS! WHAT DID WE SAY ABOUT YOUR AIM? YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE TOUCHING A BALL!!" I shouted.

I lunged at him while Scott and Jack held me back.

"I'm sorry! I did it by accident. Honestly." He pleaded. He looked like he was about to pee in his pants.

"Come on, Edward. Chill out!" Brian said.

I knew my temper was not the best and in this case, I was livid. I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes trying to calm myself down.

"Why don't you take a seat on the bench, Edward?" Coach Smith said while patting me on the back.

I sat down on the bleachers for the rest of tryouts trying to calm down but all I could think about was if Bella was okay.

After an hour passed, I saw Emmett running back onto the field. "Is she okay?" I asked him.

I was hoping he wouldn't detect anything from the concern in my voice and luckily he didn't seem to notice.

"Yeah, she'll bruise but it's not too bad. Did you take care of Butterfingers?" He asked.

"Edward almost killed him, if that's what you're asking." Mark answered for me.

"Good. I'm glad someone was here to scare the shit out of him." Emmett boomed and slapped me on the back.

I felt relieved knowing that Bella was okay but also because Emmett still didn't catch on to anything.

Now how was I going to ask him about Jasper?

* * *

**A/N: Well, what did you think? So Edward had to trick Emmett into getting information about Bella ... naughty, naughty Edward! **

**This story will definitely have more Edward and Alice brother-sister interaction so I hope you like it. **

**Please Review and Thanks for Reading! **


	3. Clocks

**A/N: Thanks again to all of you for the alerts and reviews on this! You guys are really keeping me going with this story in EPOV! I truly appreciate all the support and kind words! **

**First Day of School ... was anyone curious what Edward thought about Bella's reaction in Biology? Read on below to find out! **

**You must read Ridge Crest Prep first in order to read this story or it won't make any sense.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Twilight or Ally McBeal. I do own the storyline and any characters that I make up.**

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Clocks**

Song – Clocks by Coldplay

* * *

"Alice, what are you doing?" I asked my sister who was sitting at my desk clicking away on my laptop.

"I'm Facebook stalking Jasper." She said while ogling Jasper's pictures on Facebook.

"Come on Alice, do you really have to resort to stalking someone online? You could just talk to him like a normal person." I laughed.

"Look who's talking! Pansy!" She replied sarcastically.

She was right but I never Facebook stalked Bella before and I didn't intend to do it in the near the future either.

"And don't laugh at me. We're going to look at Bella's profile next." Alice chirped.

My eyes bugged out of my head. "What?! No, Alice!"

"Oh, come on, Edward! Haven't you ever been curious? Besides everyone does it and I'm sure she probably did the same to you."

I was curious but it just didn't feel right for me to snoop around on her Facebook profile. I'm sure I would learn more about her but how much can you do before being labelled as a stalker?

"I don't think she even knows who I am. She treats me like I'm invisible." I mumbled.

That was the conclusion that I came up with regarding Bella's reaction at football tryouts and the movies and at the bookstore. It all added up that maybe she didn't know who I was and that was why she was distant.

Alice rolled her eyes at me. "Edward, she isn't from the stone-age and she hasn't been sleeping under a rock for the past three years. Trust me, she knows who you are."

"Okay but she acts really weird around me. I can't place it. It's just different from all the other girls so I can't really figure it out."

"You're thinking too much, again!" Alice scolded.

"Look, come over here." She ordered. I could see that she had Bella's profile displayed on the screen.

I shook my head no. "No, Alice. I'm not going to look at it."

"Well, it doesn't say anything in her profile that she has a boyfriend but her status isn't listed."

I pretended to ignore her while continuing to watch TV. She was clicking away and from what I could tell she was looking through Bella's pictures now.

"OH MY GOD! She does have a boyfriend!" Alice screamed.

I jumped up from the bed and ran over to her practically pushing her out of the way. "What?! Where? Let me see."

There was only a picture of Bella with Emmett on the screen. Then she burst into giggles. "Geez, Edward! I thought you didn't want to look."

Damn pixie tricked me.

"Alice!" I glared at her.

She was practically rolling on the floor with laughter now. "I can't believe you fell for that! That was hilarious! You should've seen your reaction!!"

I walked back to my bed and sat down ignoring her. After she was done laughing, she got up from the desk and walked over to my closet.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm picking out your clothes for tomorrow." She replied.

"Um, Alice … I'm pretty sure you already know this but we have uniforms here."

"I know that! But you still have to look nice. It's the first day of classes tomorrow. And who knows maybe you'll finally get some classes with Bella." She started picking out my blazer and pants.

"And don't forget if you do get classes with her, remember to smile and talk to her. We all know that you can be awkward around girls. Just please don't scare her away."

"I'm not awkward around girls." I defended.

Alice narrowed her eyes at me to continue. "I just don't like talking to them. They annoy me aside from you and some other girls like Jenny and Kate."

"Well, you're always good at making your fan club swoon. I don't know how you do that with they way you are." She replied.

"That's because it took years of practice to get used to it. All I have to do is smile and wave and that's it."

"Exactly then think about Bella in that way. All you have to do is smile and wave but add one more thing, which is to talk to her. In case you haven't noticed my dear brother because you don't like talking to girls you're not particularly good at talking to them so you really need to work on that."

Was I really that bad at talking to girls?

**

* * *

**

I put on my uniform and opened my door to see the _Ridge Crest Times_ lying on my doorstep. I picked it up and went back inside my room.

I walked over to my desk flipping through the pages and started reading Bella's music & book review column. It was a routine for me every Monday morning since sophomore year when she became a writer.

She would usually write about a book or a new CD or a new artist so I was surprised to see that she wrote a column about _The Cure_. They were a really good English band that were popular in the 80's.

After I was done reading it, I folded the article and placed it in my desk drawer. She was a really good writer and I wondered if that was what she was hoping to do after college.

I flipped through a few more pages of the paper when my eyes landed on Tanya's column. I didn't normally read it but sometimes the headlines would catch my eye. It talked about Emmett and Rose being new students as well as Alice. It was funny how Tanya labelled her as the "Mystery Girl". I'm sure Alice would love the attention.

I laughed when I saw the paragraph about Mike Newton crying because of Emmett. I remembered that game when he pissed off Emmett, who then yelled at him and Mike started crying on the field. We all knew Mike was wrong but he had to be the idiot that he was to cause a fuss over nothing.

I read the next paragraph about Lauren and Rose fighting. I was curious why they didn't like each other but I had no doubt that it was probably because Lauren made a move on Emmett.

The last headline I saw was about Bella and the incident with the football. There were pictures of her getting hit with the ball and it only reminded me how much it could've hurt. I winced and then felt bad that she had to be mentioned like this in the paper. I could tell she didn't like attention and knew that this was going to be a hard day for her. I was glad that at least she wasn't stuck in a coma or had brain damage.

I grabbed my book bag and headed out the door toward my first class. I bumped into Steve and Scott on my way to the Social Sciences area.

"Hey guys," I said.

"Hey, Edward." Steve said.

"Yo, Cullen!" Scott said.

I noticed a group of freshmen girls staring at me. I got used to the staring after three years but it still bothered me.

I didn't want to be rude since they knew I saw them so I flashed them a quick smile and kept walking. I thought I heard one pass out but avoided looking back at them. I didn't want to confirm that I was the reason why she passed out.

After my AP American History and Politics class, I had AP Calculus. I started walking toward the Math buildings when I saw Bella walking toward the same direction. She was further ahead of me and I hoped that we had the same math class together.

When I walked into my class, I was disappointed to see that she wasn't there. Maybe I was cursed.

Class flew by and I was off to AP English. I walked into the room and nearly froze in place. There she was sitting in the middle of the room. She was writing in her notebook completely oblivious to everything around her. She looked adorable being so absorbed in her doodling.

The class was starting to fill up as more students came into the class. The seat in front of her was already taken as well as the seats in both rows next to her.

_Hurry up and sit behind her before someone else does! _

I saw the same guy from football tryouts that said she was hot moving toward her. I sped up my pace and quickly passed him sliding down in the desk behind her.

Ha! Loser! The guy glared at me and then went to find another seat toward the back of the room.

She didn't stop drawing so I took out my things and placed them on the desk. I could smell a sweet scent of vanilla and lavender and I wasn't sure where it was coming from.

Now seemed like a good time to talk to her. Alice would kill me if she found out that I didn't knowing that we had class together and that I was sitting right behind her. My desk was touching the back of her seat. That was how close I was to her.

What do I say? I started thinking of the usual opening conversation starters and then realized that I should ask if she was feeling better.

Right when I was about to open my mouth and tap her shoulder, the bell rang and the teacher walked into the room. Bella sat straight up now and I could tell the sweet scent was coming from her hair as it brushed against the top of my desk. I had to resist the urge to run my hands through it.

"Good Morning, Class!"

"Good Morning, Mrs. Cooper!" Everyone responded.

"I'm going to take attendance before we begin." She said as she reached toward her notebook and went through the class roster in alphabetical order. I could tell Bella was looking around the room when Mrs. Cooper was going through the names. She was probably figuring out if she knew anyone.

"Edward Cullen." Mrs. Cooper called out my name. I saw Bella freeze in place. It was like her body turned into stiff cardboard.

"Present." I said. I was hoping she would turn around to look at me but she didn't. She sat there completely motionless.

Once Mrs. Cooper called out her name she replied with a slightly higher tone to her voice. She sounded nervous but I wasn't exactly sure.

For the rest of the class period, Mrs. Cooper lectured which didn't give me any opportunities to talk to Bella.

I was hoping to talk to her when class was over but as soon as the bell rang, she jumped up out of her seat and rushed out of the room.

It felt like she was running away from something and I couldn't figure it out. I grabbed my book bag and started walking to my ASB meeting.

I was replaying what happened in my mind and was bewildered.

**

* * *

**

"Edward, I can't believe you didn't talk to her!" Alice whispered yelled at me.

"I tried but the timing wasn't right." I whispered.

"Okay, fine then, we're going to eat lunch at their table. So hurry up!" She pulled my arm toward the food court.

I wasn't too sure about having lunch with her. I knew she never really liked to talk to anyone. And throwing Alice at her on the first day of class might be a little too much but I knew Alice was determined.

We bought our food and walked over to the tables. I stopped walking when I saw that Jack and Brian were talking to Emmett.

"Great, someone else beat us to it. I told you to hurry up." She huffed.

I wasn't in the mood to respond so I walked over to the table where I usually sat at. Kate, Garrett and Mark were already sitting there eating. Alice sat down taking a seat next to Kate and started chatting with her.

"Looks like someone caught Taylor's eye." Mark said raising his eyebrows. I knew Alice heard him as she eyed my reaction.

I looked over to where Jack was and saw him sitting next to Bella. We weren't best friends but were close friends from football and basketball. I knew he always thought she was cute but I didn't think he liked her.

Maybe now was a good idea to kick myself in the ass for not telling any of the guys about my secret crush.

_Yeah, right and have them laugh their asses off at you. No thanks! _

Not that if I told them I would be claiming her in any way. I was just too much of a coward to do anything about it and now it was slowly starting to blow up in my face.

I tried to pay attention to what Garrett and Mark were saying but I was too focused on Jack and Bella. I could see them talking. Maybe she was open to socializing with other people. I noticed that she started looking around the food court and glanced at our table.

After a few minutes, she shot up from the table and dashed out of the food court. Everyone at her table looked surprised. I wanted to go after her but remembered that she didn't know who I was and would probably freak out knowing that some random guy was watching her in the food court. I saw Jasper get up and walk out of the food court following her.

I turned back to look at Alice who looked just as puzzled as I was.

Once lunch was over, Alice grabbed me and pulled me to the side.

"What do you think that was about?" She asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Well, you better step it up soon. You have competition to worry about now. I saw the way Jack was looking at her and talking to her. He's definitely interested and I won't be surprised if there are more out there."

"So man up!" She said in a deep voice and slapped my back as she ran off to her next class laughing.

Annoying Pixie!

I walked to my AP Biology class and was shocked to see that Bella was sitting at one of the lab tables. I guess this year was turning out to be lucky for me after all.

She had her headphones on and was staring down at her iPhone. I couldn't see her face but she looked deep in thought.

I decided to sit next to her and hope that we could be lab partners.

I placed my bag on the table and sat down. I glanced over at her iPhone. She was listening to _No Doubt_.

She was looking at me curiously.

"Good song. Do you like _No Doubt_?" I said as I looked at her.

Then she closed her eyes and turned away from me and started rubbing her temples with her hands.

Okay … did she not hear me? I was sure she could hear me.

Besides that she looked right at me and then she turned away.

What did I do to her? Did I give her a headache? Do I smell?

I tried to sniff myself without making it obvious. Nothing out of the ordinary.

The bell rang and I saw her turning off her iPhone and taking out the earplugs and throwing it into her bag. She still didn't turn to look at me. Again, the non-existent treatment.

I was staring at her trying to figure her out. Then she turned toward me and I saw her eyes widen in surprise.

Did she not know that I was sitting here? She looked at me like this was the first time she saw me but she clearly saw me about a minute ago. Maybe the ball hit her harder than I thought.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered. She sounded genuine so I didn't hold it against her.

"I didn't hear you and I thought–" She paused thinking.

It made me curious and I wanted to know what she was thinking about.

"I just … I just thought you were someone else." She said sounding deflated.

Oh, so she was disappointed to sit next to me. She was hoping someone else was going to sit here. My heart sank.

"No, it's okay." I shrugged my shoulders and looked toward the front of the classroom.

I was about to get up and switch desks but the teacher came running into the room. He started taking attendance and then had us take out our textbooks.

As I listened to Mr. Banner talk, I saw Bella clench her hands into fists. She either really hates Biology or she really hates me. Like always, I never could come to a conclusion with all the questions about Bella that ran through my head.

I glanced at her a few times but she remained seated and completely still staring at the front of the room.

"Instead of assigning you lab partners this year, I decided that your lab partners will be who you are sharing your desk with. Here is the first assignment." Mr. Banner said while handing out the lab papers.

I was excited that we could be lab partners but after what happened earlier I didn't think she wanted to be my partner.

I saw her shoot her hand up in the air asking to be excused to the restroom. She swiftly left the room as quickly as she could.

Either she really needed to use the restroom or she really doesn't want to be my partner. Another question to add to my list of a growing million.

Everyone around me started working on the assignment as I patiently waited for her to return. After a few minutes, she came back and sat on her stool.

"So … d-did you g-get a chance to read over the assignment?"

She was having hard time just trying to talk to me. God, she really does hate me.

I don't even know what I could have done to make her hate me. Maybe she didn't like athletes. Maybe she thought I was a dumb jock. Thoughts were swirling in my head that I couldn't even answer her. I just nodded and looked away.

"Listen, I'm really really sorry about earlier at the start of class. I feel really bad about what I did. I was a little out of it and I really didn't mean it. I know we're going to have to work together as partners so I really hope that it doesn't come in the way of our projects." She said.

I turned to face her and thought about what she said. I was still trying to figure her out. She sounded sincere and it didn't seem as if she wanted a different partner.

Maybe I read everything wrong.

"Don't worry about it." I said as I smiled at her. That was all I could think of to diffuse the situation.

She looked down at the papers in front of her clutching them tightly. Then she looked back up at me and said. "I'm sorry, I didn't get a chance to introduce myself to you earlier. I'm Bella, Bella Swan."

Did she just introduce herself to me? She thought I didn't know who she was this entire time? If she only knew.

Well, she probably doesn't know who you are so introduce yourself!

I gave her a smile and said. "Edward. Edward Cullen."

I didn't know that I was staring at her until she looked away. I think it made her feel uncomfortable. Alice was right. Maybe I am awkward around girls.

I decided to ask her more about the project to ease the silence and it seemed like a good time to ask her about working together on the project outside of class. I would be able to spend more time with her. My heartbeat sped up at that thought.

"We have to do a research project on the classification of animals. It looks like it's going to take some time. Did you want to get together after class some time and work on it at the library?"

My hands started to sweat and I wasn't sure what she was going to say. What if she didn't want to work on the project outside of class? What if she was going to say that she wanted a different partner?

After a few seconds, she nodded her head yes.

My heartbeat was flying now. She agreed and didn't seem upset about it. That's a good sign. I hope.

"Um, maybe we should exchange contact information just in case." She said while looking down at the papers in front of her.

"Sure." I said taking out my Blackberry Storm and handed it to her. She handed me her iPhone as I punched in my contact information.

As I handed her back the phone, my hand lightly brushed her hand and I felt a shock go up my arm.

What was that?

I never felt anything like that before. I saw her flinch knowing that she felt it too. Maybe it scared her.

"Sorry." I muttered under my breath.

"It's okay." She mumbled while she placed my Blackberry in front of me on the table.

I wasn't sure if she was going to sprint out of the room again so I grabbed my bag and had it ready so I could get up to leave.

The bell rang and I shot up from my seat and walked toward the door. I beat her to it first and said, "See you tomorrow, Bella!" as I flashed her a big smile and walked out the door.

It was incredibly frustrating to be this confused and yet I couldn't come out and ask her all these questions. We just started talking. I didn't want to scare her away.

I pushed my thoughts aside. There was something more important to think about and that was trying to setup a time to meet to work on our project.

How was I going to bring that up? Do I call her? Do I text her?

I needed to ask Alice.

**

* * *

**

I was walking over to the locker room and saw Lauren Mallory standing outside. She was greeting all the guys as they walked through the door. I wouldn't be surprised if she was trying to peep inside to get a better look at everyone.

It made me cringe thinking about her doing that to me. I walked up to the door and could feel her disgusting stare.

Then she said, "Hi, Edd–"

**BAM!**

The locker room door flew open as she screamed jumping out of the way. It was so close to hitting her and I almost wished it did.

Brian came out of the room dressed in his uniform and started walking toward the field.

"You idiot!" She screamed at him. "I was standing right there!"

"Then don't stand there next time, Mallory!" He said while laughing as he walked further away.

"Ugh!" She screamed and stalked off.

I was glad she didn't come up to talk to me. Brian was always good at deflecting Lauren.

I walked into the locker room and went to my locker. I decided that I was going to ask Emmett about Bella and Jasper. It didn't seem as if they were a couple at lunch and Jasper didn't seem upset that Jack was talking to Bella. But he did run after her when she left the food court.

I opened the locker door and started changing into my practice clothes.

Emmett came in about a minute later and started changing. I could hear the other guys talking about girls. That was all they ever talked about.

"I saw Bella run off today at lunch. Was she okay?" I said trying to sound casual.

Emmett looked at me and then replied. "Yeah, Jasper talked to her. She's okay."

"That's good. Jasper seems like a really good guy for Bella." I said.

Emmett started bursting into booming laughs causing a few guys to stare at us.

"Jasper and Bella are not together. Never have been and never will." He said.

I noticed that Jack and a few others were listening in now on our conversation.

"Really? They seem close." I said nonchalantly.

"Trust me. They are not together. They are only friends. Best friends in fact." Emmett said.

Somehow I still wasn't fully convinced but I felt relieved knowing that they were only friends. But why couldn't I shake off the feeling that this topic was going to come up again?

* * *

**A/N: I had to include Facebook stalking in here. Everyone has done it so don't say that you haven't! Did you like Edward's reaction to Alice's trick? I thought it was funny!**

**Poor Edward ... extremely confused and thinking that Bella hates him. **

**With Lauren and the locker room, I was going to have Brian slam the door in her face but I thought that would be too mean for him to do. He just loves to annoy her but none of my boys will hurt girls physically in my stories so I took it out. **

**And how do you like Mr. Smooth Moves in his attempt to find out about Bella and Jasper? Well, Emmett is definitely catching on ... he's not that dense! **

**Next Chapter ... Second Day of School and the Study Date! **

**Please Review and Thanks for Reading! **


	4. The Promise

**A/N: You guys are awesome! I am so happy that you are all enjoying this! I definitely struggle with it since I feel like I re-write a lot of the parts to make it sound more masculine so hopefully it still sounds like the Edward that I created! **

**Here is the study date! I know this is moving quicker than the original story which I hope is a good thing! At least now you can go inside Edward's head when Bella was zoned out and dazed.**

**You know me and my cover songs! Of course I love the original but wanted to name this after the cover. It's one of my favorite 80's songs!**

**You must read Ridge Crest Prep first in order to read this story or it won't make any sense.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Twilight or Ally McBeal. I do own the storyline and any characters that I make up.**

**

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Chapter 4 – The Promise**

Song – The Promise by New Found Glory

* * *

"Alice, I'm not sure. I think she hates me." I said while eating my sandwich from Togo's. We met up for dinner after football practice.

"She does not hate you. I'm sure she's just nervous around you. In case you haven't notice, most girls are." She retorted.

"Yeah, but she's not like most girls Alice."

"And how would you know? You've barely even talked to her." She stated the obvious fact.

"It's just from my observations." I said.

"Okay, Mr. Stalker." She rolled her eyes.

"I don't stalk her."

"Call it what you want then." She said and waved her hand dismissing the topic.

"I'm just so confused. I can't figure her out."

"Don't let that distract you right now. Tomorrow, you have to ask her out on a study date." Alice said.

"Alice, it's not a study date." I said.

"It is a study date, Edward! This is the perfect opportunity for you to talk to her more. I'm so proud of you. You finally grew a pair!" She said giggling.

I rolled my eyes at her. She was more excited than I was when I told her that Bella and I were lab partners this year.

"I found out from Emmett that Jasper and Bella are best friends. Nothing more. He said they've never been together and never will." I said reluctantly.

"Really?! See! That's good news!" She said overly excitedly. She was definitely more excited for herself rather than for me.

"Yes." I said.

"You know Edward, this is a _good_ thing. Why am I sensing your hesitation about this?" Alice said eyeing me curiously.

"Well, I'm just not fully convinced." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Why? Her brother just confirmed it and he's also Jasper's best friend." She added.

"I don't know. I just get this odd feeling about it." I said.

"Whatever! Just remember what to do tomorrow when you see her, okay?" She said.

"Okay." I responded.

Somehow I had a feeling that I was going to forget what Alice told me to do.

**

* * *

**It was the next day. The bell rang and I headed to English class. I was starting to get nervous.

_Remember what Alice told you to do_.

Smile, wave, and talk. Three things. It sounded easy but I knew it would be difficult and if my track record with girls was that I was awkward I knew I was asking for it.

I walked into the classroom taking a deep breath but saw that Bella wasn't in class yet. I walked over to my seat and sat down waiting. I started watching the clock above the door counting down the minutes in my head.

I didn't see her walk into the room but as I saw her walking closer to our desks I looked up at her and our eyes locked. I stared into the depth of her big deep brown eyes.

She broke the gaze and gave me a quick smile as she hastily sat down.

I was surprised that she smiled at me. She never smiled at me before let alone looked at me.

I was about to tap her on the shoulder to ask her about meeting up for our project when she surprised me again.

She turned around to face me and looked like she was about to say something. My hands were on the desk and I was stunned when she reached out and placed her hand on top of mine.

Her skin was soft and I could feel a tingling coming from the contact. I was revelling in the fact that she was touching me but she looked a little out of it. She still hadn't spoken yet.

Her eyes looked a little glazed over. I hope she's not on drugs or anything.

"Bella, Bella?" I said waving my other hand in front of her face trying to get her attention.

She quickly snapped out of her thoughts and looked down at our hands.

"Did you want to talk to me about something?" I said not sure what to think and the fact that she still had her hand on top of mine.

She withdrew her hand quickly and I could see her face turning bright red as she stared at her lap. I was missing the contact but wasn't sure how she felt about it. She acted like she was repulsed by it.

Then she looked up to face me. She looked into my eyes and I saw her tense up immediately. She sat there staring and now I was even more confused than before. Then she finally spoke stuttering.

"Um, uh, a-are you b-busy on Thursday after s-school to meet at the library for our biology project?"

I was shocked that this was what she wanted to say. From her reaction earlier, I thought she wanted to tell me that she wanted a new partner.

Damn it. She asked me first and I was supposed to do it. Alice would get a kick out of this. Not that I would tell her or she'd tease me to death.

I started to feel a tightening in my chest. This was really happening and I was going to meet up with her after school at the library.

_Get a grip, Edward! It's only studying_!

I ran my hand through my hair. Then I noticed that she was waiting for my response.

_Answer her, Idiot! _

"Sure, I'll meet you at the library. How does 4pm sound?"

"That sounds great." She squeaked and then turned back around quickly in her seat.

I laughed to myself. Maybe she was nervous like Alice said or maybe she wasn't. My questions were still unanswered.

I was hoping to get a chance to talk to her a little more but Mrs. Cooper lectured for the rest of the class period. And when the bell rang, Bella jumped out of her seat and rushed off again just she like she did yesterday.

Maybe she really liked her next class.

Either way, I still couldn't figure her out.

**

* * *

**

"So she touched you?" Alice asked.

I nodded my head.

"That's a _good_ thing. Edward!" She scolded.

"I know that but she took it away so quickly it as like I was hurting her or something."

Alice rolled her eyes at me.

"God, you know for being a guy like you I'm really surprised that you don't know about all this girl stuff. You have girls worshipping the ground you walk on and you can't even figure one girl out? You should be kissing the ground that I walk on. You owe me big time."

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Owe you big time? You should be glad that I'm not making a big deal about your crush on Jasper."

Her cheeks flushed pink and she smiled sheepishly at me. "Yeah, well, not like there is much going on. I haven't talked to him yet either due to Mr. Slow Poke here who is so late every time for lunch that we miss out on sitting with them. I swear you need to get your butt moving and you need to do it soon because I need to finally be able to talk to the man of my dreams."

Alice and I tried to eat lunch with them during the week but each day there was a new group of students that would surround themselves around their lunch table. Everyone was surprised to see Bella and Jasper interacting with other people outside of themselves but it was also because everyone wanted to meet Rose and Emmett. Of course, Alice said it was my fault for being too slow at getting my lunch. She was starting to get on my nerves.

"I'm trying Alice. I really am. I just can't figure this all out. She's like a mystery to me. Everything she says or does could have two meanings. I'm serious there are no other girls out there like her."

"Is that a bad thing then?"

"No, of course not. If anything it makes me want to find out more."

"Good." She smiled at me.

"Now, just make sure to knock her socks off tomorrow!" She squealed.

That was easier said than done.

**

* * *

**

It was Thursday and Bella and I were supposed to meet for our study date today after school.

I did notice that Bella was starting to act differently around me. It was good different. She seemed to smile more and we would say hi and bye to each other in class. We couldn't talk much during class because our teachers were lecturing most of the time but I got a stronger inclination that maybe she didn't hate me.

I was hoping to get a chance to talk to her today during class but I was literally speechless when I saw what she was wearing. She had on a tight long black pencil skirt and a sleeveless navy blue silk blouse.

She always dressed nice and conservative but today she wore something different than what she normally wore. I could see the tongues wagging out of every guy's mouth that walked past her. It was pissing me off.

I was in the locker room and we just finished football practice for the day. Thursdays were our short practice days so we didn't have to stay late.

I finished showering and was putting on my uniform. Emmett was joking around with Steve and Jack.

Then I heard Mike Newton's annoying voice a row over from where we were. "God, did you see what Bella Swan was wearing today?"

I clenched my hands into fists. Emmett stopped talking as soon as he heard Bella's name and started listening in.

"Yeah! She is one hot piece of ass!" Tyler added.

I was fuming. How can he talk about her like that? I was about to go over there and say something but Emmett slammed his locker shut loudly. I heard Tyler and Mike pause and then they started talking again.

"Yeah, you know she liked me freshman year. I could use that to my advantage this year." Mike said.

_Over my dead body._

"Get over yourself Mike! My sister never liked you!" Emmett boomed. The guys chuckled.

Silence. I could hear them whispering to each other now and I was pissed. I slammed my locker shut and walked over to them.

"Stop talking about her! If I hear you or any of you talking about her like that again, you're asking for it!" I slammed my fist into the locker next to him causing him and his friends to wince.

I walked back to grab my book bag that was lying on the bench. Emmett slapped me on the back. "Thanks man! I'm glad someone is here to help me out with the dirty talk."

I shrugged my shoulders. Did he suspect anything?

"Just trying to help out." I said.

"Sure." Emmett said under his breath. I don't think I was supposed to hear that but I did. And he knew. I didn't have to tell him. It was obvious.

I rushed out of the locker room as quickly as I could. I didn't want to be interrogated by Emmett or worse have him kill me.

It was a little past 4pm and I was running late. I ran over to the library. I wasn't sure where to meet her but I froze when I walked into the lobby to see her standing there with her back facing me.

She was beautiful and it always took my breath away. She looked like she was texting someone.

I walked up behind her and said. "Hey Bella."

She jumped causing me to laugh. I didn't know that I would scare her.

She turned around to face me as I caught sight of her from the front. I was staring at her all day in class but it was like I couldn't get enough of her.

"H-Hi Edward, yy-ou scared me. I-I was just about to text you. I wasn't sure where you wanted to meet." She said stuttering. She sounded scared and shoved her phone into her bag.

She caught me staring at her so I quickly looked away. That was embarrassing. She caught me checking her out.

I decided to ask her where we should study to ease the awkward silence. She led us to the fifth floor. She walked around like she was familiar with the area. I only knew the third floor well since I always studied there.

We found an empty table and set our stuff down.

"You seem to know this floor extremely well." I said.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Jasper and I come here to study all the time. We always study on the fifth floor and in this study room. It's usually empty and helps with having a quiet environment to get things done."

Oh, she studies here with Jasper. I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. I just had to keep telling myself that he was her best friend. They were always together so it made sense that they would study together.

She broke up the list of books we needed so we split up to get them and went to work.

After two hours, we were pretty far long into the project. We didn't speak the entire time and I figured it was because we were too involved with the work. I watched her as she was reading an article.

The million questions that I had came back swirling in my head. Then she turned and looked at me.

"Um … did you need help with something?" She asked.

Should I be honest with her? Should I just come out and say it? I could get answers to all my questions now. It was just the two of us.

I could hear Alice's voice yelling at me in my head. _"DO IT EDWARD!" _

It was now or never.

"Did I ever do anything to you to upset you?"

I could she was taken aback. She wasn't expecting that.

"Um … No, why would you think that?" She said looking down at the photocopies of papers in her hands.

Avoiding me again. She does hate me! And I think I just confirmed it. But why?!

"Nevermind. It's nothing." I said running a hand through my hair. I went back to working on the project but all I could think about was why she hates me.

What did I do to her? Did I offend her in some way without knowing it? I knew I was bad at talking to girls but did I have some sort of bad habit or something that I would do to make her hate me?

It was silent. Dead silent.

Then she surprised me. She turned to face me and said. "Did I offend you with something I said?"

What?! She thinks that she offended me? Okay now, I was really confused.

"I'm asking you if I upset you and you're asking me if you offended me?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, you seem to be really upset and I wasn't sure if it was something I said or did."

Wow. She could read me pretty well and we barely knew each other. She looked sad and I knew it was because she thought she made me upset. I knew I had to say something quickly.

"No, No, it's nothing you said or did. It's just …" I paused as she motioned for me to keep going.

How was I supposed to tell her this? Would she get mad at me?

_Just say it! _

"Okay, how do I say this? It just seems that I might have done something to you to make you dislike me." I said as I shrugged my shoulders.

"No, I don't dislike you. We just met and I barely even know you. Why would you think that?" She said.

I winced at her true words. She was right. We hardly knew each other and it was my fault for that.

"No, it's nothing." I said.

"Edward, you really need to tell me if I did something wrong. I don't dislike you and I don't want you to think that. We're lab partners for the rest of the year and I really hope that we can get along. I don't want it to be awkward between us." She said sincerely.

Why did she think that she did something wrong?

"You didn't do anything wrong." I said stressing it to her again.

Hopefully she would just drop it and we didn't have to talk about this anymore.

She wasn't giving up. I could tell just by the look on her face. I sighed while running my hand through my hair. She was more stubborn than I was, I'd give her that.

"Are you sure you want to know?" I said.

She nodded yes eagerly and said. "Yes, please. I really want to know why you think that."

I took a deep breath and mumbled. "Okay, well, it just seems from your actions that you hate me."

There it was out in the open now.

"Like what actions?" She asked curiously.

"Well, you always seem like you are avoiding me. I get a sense that you feel uncomfortable around me as if I did something wrong to upset you. And the first day in Biology class you seemed to be really upset and angry with me. I just didn't know if I did anything to make you mad. If I did, I'm really sorry for whatever it was." I said frowning.

She seemed dazed again with her eyes glazed over. Maybe I should ask her if she's on drugs.

"Bella, are you okay?" I asked waving my hand in front of her face.

She shook her head snapping herself out of her daze. "I was just thinking." She said.

"Edward, I'm so sorry that you thought you did something wrong to me for me to hate you. I don't hate you. You never did anything wrong to me."

So she didn't hate me!

I still had a chance!

My heart swelled at that thought. At least that was one question answered.

"I'm just not good with people. I'm not used to getting to know new people and I have a habit of getting nervous." She said as her cheeks flushed pink.

I knew she had a hard time socializing with people and getting to know new people but I didn't know she was nervous because of that. That helped answer a lot of my questions.

"As for that first day of Biology Class, well, you promise not to laugh me?" She said seriously.

Why would I laugh at her?

I nodded my head in agreement.

"You really have to promise and you cannot tell anyone! Jasper, Emmett and Rose are the only people who know and if anyone else finds out I will hunt you down and kill you."

She was letting me in on a secret of hers. My heart sped up faster. She already felt that she could trust me with something personal and that made me happy.

"I promise I won't laugh at you and I won't tell anyone, Bella." I said reassuring her that I would not tell anyone. Not even Alice!

"Okay, here it goes …" She took a deep breath. I knew it was hard for her to tell me but I couldn't figure out what it could be.

"I have a tendency to get lost in my thoughts and daydreams." She said quickly that I barely caught what she said.

Daydreams?

Was that it? Was that why she always had her eyes glazed over?

I said sounding confused. "Daydreams?"

"Yes." She squeaked as her cheeks turned a brighter pink. "It's really embarrassing so when I saw you …" She paused.

So it wasn't drugs. That's good.

"I thought I was seeing someone else and I knew it wasn't real so I was frustrated with myself. Only then I realized that it was a real person sitting next to me and it was you. I was just upset that I was getting caught up in my dreams again. I tend to mix my dreams with reality."

Seeing someone else? Who was she dreaming about?

I felt like someone had punched me in the gut. I'd wish anything for it to be me but I knew that was unlikely.

Who could it be? Jasper?

More confusion. Just what I needed.

She buried her face in her hands and groaned. "I know you're probably thinking that I'm crazy! Just laugh and get it over with!"

I wanted to laugh but not because of her daydreaming. Her reaction surprised me and I thought it was funny.

Everyone dreams. What's the big deal?

I grabbed her hands pulling them away from her face. I wanted her to look at me to know that what I was going to say to her I meant truthfully.

I gave her a smile and said. "Bella, I'm not going to laugh at you and I don't think you're crazy."

"Really?" She asked in disbelief.

_What did Emmett, Rose and Jasper do to her? _

"Really. I think that's great that you tend to have an overactive imagination. Isn't that what life's all about? To dream?"

"Well, I don't know if a lot of people agree with you there but you sure have my vote!" She said with a smile.

I was glad to make her happy and knowing that she had someone who wouldn't laugh at her. I could tell that the tension in the air had lifted so I decided to joke around with her.

"Have you seen any naked dancing babies yet?"

"No!" She yelled and I laughed.

I could feel pressure where my hands were and when I looked down I realized that I was still holding onto her hands. I saw her face turn pink so I let go. I wasn't sure if she felt uncomfortable or not.

"Sorry about that." I mumbled.

"No, it's okay." She said softly.

"So are we okay now? Especially now that you know my secret?" She added.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for thinking that you hated me."

"Well, I'm sorry for making you think that I hated you."

We laughed.

"So are you going to the football game on Friday night?" I asked.

I was really hoping that she was going to say yes.

"Yeah, unfortunately, Emmett and Rose are forcing me to go so I have no choice."

She must really hate sports. She sounded like it was torture for her to go but I was glad that I would be able to see her there.

"Wow, so you must really hate football, huh?"

"No, it's not that. I just don't know anything about it. I'm already a confused enough person as it is and I don't think that spending my free time watching a sport that I have no idea what is going on would help with the confusion. It'll just make things worse." She groaned.

I laughed. She was so cute and she didn't even know it.

She looked down at her watch. I didn't want our time to end. We were just starting to talk to each other and everything felt comfortable.

"I'm sorry, Edward but it's getting late and I have to meet Jasper for dinner. Did you want to work on the project again next week?"

Oh, she was going to meet up to eat with Jasper. Another shot of jealously hit me.

I didn't know why I couldn't get over the fact that Jasper and her were only friends. Maybe I wouldn't believe it until I heard it from her and I was never going to ask her that.

I smiled and nodded yes to her.

"Same time, same place?" I asked as we started gathering up our things.

"Sure." She said.

We walked out of the library and I turned to her giving her a smile. "This was great, Bella. See you tomorrow!" She waved bye to me and gave me a big smile as she walked off toward her dorm.

My heart raced seeing that she looked so happy. I walked back to my room and felt like I was flying.

* * *

**A/N: Well, what did you think? At least now Edward will stop thinking that she hates him. It's all cleared up and I know it sounds like there are so many questions that Edward is asking himself but it's really how I saw this story from the beginning. I always saw him as being confused about all the things Bella which intrigued him. **

**I also try hard to add in a few scenes from the locker rooms and more Edward and Alice interaction so I hope you like it. I hope it's not too repetitive with Alice and Edward's discussions. I think it's funny because he constantly needs that push from Alice to keep going or he gets too shy and nervous. Plus, there will be some Alice talking about Jasper in here too! I will add that in within the next few chapters! **

**Next Chapter ... Football Game and Bookstore! **

**Please Review and Thanks for Reading!!  
**


	5. Are You Gonna Be My Girl

**A/N: Thanks again for all the alerts and review! I'm already over 100 on this story which nearly gave me a heart attack! In a good way! I had no idea that my stories would get this much response. I would've been happy with 1 review but you guys are amazing! Thanks again for all the support! **

**I would like to say a special thanks to SavageWoman for giving me some inspiration and ideas that I will be incorporating into this story. Thanks for all the support and the motivation! **

**Here is the First Football Game of the season and the bookstore incident! Read on! **

**You must read Ridge Crest Prep first in order to read this story or it won't make any sense.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Twilight or Ally McBeal. I do own the storyline and any characters that I make up.**

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Are You Gonna Be My Girl**

Song – Are you Gonna Be My Girl by JET

* * *

It was Game Day Friday, which meant that I didn't have classes today. I wouldn't be able to see Bella in classes today but I was happy to know that she was going to the game tonight. I hoped she would go to the after party so that we could talk again. It felt like all I wanted to do was spend time with her and talk to her to get to know her more.

I was even tempted to pick up the phone and call her but restrained myself. She would think I was awkward since I didn't have a reason to call her for anything. I even came up with an idea of asking her about English homework but she would see through that though.

I walked into the locker room and saw that most of the guys were there. Everyone was changing.

"Edward!" Emmett said while giving me a nod.

I nodded back and then went to changing. "So I heard that you and my little sister are lab partners."

Did she tell him we were lab partners? How did he know?

"Yeah." I replied.

He walked over to me and looked around before whispering to me like he had some big secret to tell. "I know how you feel about her, Edward."

I froze. "Dude, don't worry about it. You're a cool guy." He said slapping his hand onto my back hard. I could feel the pain shoot through me. Hopefully, that was all the pain he would inflict on me. I felt somewhat relieved that he didn't kill me for finding out that I liked his sister.

He continued talking. "She tends to get her head stuck in the clouds sometimes so just be patient with her. And stop being such a pussy about it. I have my money on you. So you better do something about it!"

What was he talking about? Money on me?

"Em, are you betting on me?" I asked.

"Of course! I always bet and I always win."

"I'm not talking to Bella or doing anything about it because of your bet." I tensed up. That would be the worse possible situation. That she heard I talked to her or asked her out to dinner because of Emmett's stupid bet.

"I know that pretty boy. Relax. Geez. Are you always this uptight? I'm just hoping it will give you the push that you need. I knew how you felt about her before I made the bet."

How did he know?

He answered my question. "I can tell by the way you look at her, man."

Was I that obvious? I'd have to be more careful about it.

"Who are you betting with?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out!" He laughed walking out of the locker room.

Who else knew about me liking her?

It was bugging me and I was even more annoyed that Emmett would place a bet on this. It was definitely something he would do.

I walked out of the locker room and was attacked by Lauren Mallory. I almost screamed out loud because she scared the shit out of me by popping her face right in front of me.

"Hi Eddiekins!" She said trying to put her hand on my chest. I dodged out of the way so she couldn't touch me. And I could smell her awful breath. I wasn't sure where her mouth had been and I didn't want to know.

I stepped further away from her and placed my hands out in front of me like a shield. "Lauren, please don't call me that. It's Edward. Not Ed. Not Eddie. And not Eddiekins."

"Okay, whatever, Eddie! You know I'm free tonight after the game." She said trying to sound seductive but she sounded like a drowning cat.

She could never take no for an answer. I don't think she even knew what no meant.

"I'm busy, Lauren." I replied coolly hoping she would get the clue.

"Oh, okay. Well, there's always next time. Don't deny me, Eddie. We're meant to be together. Sooner or later." She said.

I was about to throw up in my mouth.

"How many times do I need to say this Lauren but there will be no next time because I am always busy. And we are not meant to be together." I said hoping that would drill into her pea-sized brain.

"You are so funny, Eddie!" She said while cackling her evil witch laugh.

She thought I was joking?

It was pointless. She'll never understand. I huffed and walked off to the football field with her following behind me.

God, I hope she doesn't pinch my butt. She's done it before.

I looked at Stacy and Jenny giving them a help-me look.

"Lauren, shouldn't we get started on cheer practice?" Stacy spoke up taking Lauren's attention away from me. I silently thanked her.

"I have a new routine I wanted to go over with you." Jenny said.

"None of your ideas are good enough, Jenny, so don't even bother. Only I come up with the routines for the team. How many times do I have to tell you that?" Lauren sneered.

What was she talking about? Jenny was the best cheerleader on the squad and came up with all the routines. Lauren stole all her ideas claiming they were hers.

"And you, what is that you're wearing?! Didn't I tell you that I pick our outfits?" Lauren screamed at Janet.

She was just wearing shorts and a t-shirt for practice. Did they really need to wear their uniforms now?

I saw all the cheerleaders faces fall into a frowns. I always felt awful for the entire squad. Lauren would always yell at them for no reason or put them down. And when they did routines she never participated but stood on the side examining her nails or ogling boys or making out with random guys and doing god knows what under the bleachers and in hidden corners of the stadiums. She was never part of the team.

I felt bad having them distract her for me but I knew they had to start practice either way and they could never avoid the witch.

I gave a thankful look to Stacy and Jenny as they nodded to me before I headed off to meet up with the team for practice.

**

* * *

**

After hours of practice, we went back to the locker room to get ready for the game. I knew college scouts would be attending our games and that Emmett was hoping to get scouted.

It was never something I wanted but everyone assumed it just because I was the quarterback and captain of the basketball team. It bothered me to have people judge me and assume things. I liked sports and I was good at it but it wasn't something I wanted to do as a career.

Coach Smith went over the plays and gave us a pep talk before we headed outside.

"Get ready for the line up." He said as we walked through the tunnel leading onto the field. I could hear the cheers and roars of the crowd.

It always pumped up the adrenaline in my system and got me ready before each game. The one thing that had to ruin it was Lauren Mallory. She came running over with her poms poms.

Before she could even speak, Brian stood in front of us blocking her from talking to us.

"Sorry no talking to any of the players before a game. It's unlucky especially when it's you." He said.

"But!" Lauren said.

"No!"

"I." Lauren tried to say.

"No!"

"You."

"NO! ZIP IT!" He yelled.

"HMPH!" She said stomping her feet and walking away.

We all laughed giving hi-fives to Brian for getting rid of her. I looked out into the crowd as they began to call out the names of our starting line up. I spotted Bella right away.

She was wearing Emmett's jersey over a long sleeved white shirt. She looked adorable in a jersey and I wondered if she would wear mine someday.

My mind was racing with thoughts about a possibility of us being something more in the future and we just barely started talking. I was more hung up on this girl than I thought.

The announcer called my name shaking me out of my thoughts as I ran out onto the field. Smile and wave. It was easy to win over the crowd as the stadium erupted into loud cheers.

It didn't matter to me that there were so many people here because my eyes only narrowed in one person. I looked straight at Bella and smiled. I hope she knew that I was looking at her. She gave me a big smile back that got me pumped up.

We were going to win today!

I knew it as I jogged over to the rest of the team. Once everyone came out we huddled into a group and Emmett grew serious. I'd never really seen him like this before which surprised me. He really did take on the captain role seriously.

The game started and things were set into motion. I would try to look at Bella whenever I could. I knew she wasn't understanding any of it just from the look on her face. She was completely confused. She looked cute scrunching up her nose each time a play was made and when the referee would call out something. I saw Rose trying to explain it to her but she still seemed lost.

The game finished and we all went back into the locker room to shower. I hated the part of leaving the locker room after a game. Mainly because it meant having to be mobbed by annoying fan girls.

I took a deep breath and stepped out of the room after half the guys already left. I was immediately swarmed by a group of freshman and sophomore girls. I tried to look for Bella because she was the only one I cared to see.

I kept my focus on smiling and waving at the girls in front of me and then I heard a laugh that I knew came from the one girl I was looking for. I turned and watched as she laughed and somehow I knew she was laughing at me.

She stopped laughing as soon as she caught my gaze but I gave her a smirk to let her know that I agreed with her in how ridiculous this looked. She shook her head in agreement and then started laughing again.

I went back to focusing my attention on the fan girls and when I looked up again I saw Bella walking away with Jasper. They had their arms around each other and I felt the green-eyed monster coming out again. I guess that meant she wasn't going to the after party and I could feel my mood starting to sour.

"Edward!" Alice called taking my gaze off Bella and Jasper.

Alice skipped over to me and gave me a hug.

"Hey Alice. Did you like the game?"

"Yeah, you kicked ass! And you really weren't kidding when you told me about your fan club. I had to stand off on the side to wait for it to clear out for fear of getting trampled. I swear five girls pushed me out of the way." She huffed.

"Sorry about that Alice." I said while ruffling her hair with my hand.

"Eh, watch the hair!" She said stepping back and moving her head out of the way. I laughed.

"Oh and guess who I finally talked to?!" She squealed. I looked at her and saw a twinkle in her eye.

She met Jasper. "You finally met him, huh?"

"YES! And Edward, he's so nice." She sighed dreamily.

"I went up to him while he was standing in line at the concession stand during half time. He seemed shy and reserved. You can tell he's a very private person. But I think … I think I really like him. I can't explain the pull that I have toward him. He's really cute too."

"And that's all I need to know. I don't need all the details." I cut her off.

"We have to eat lunch with them on Monday! I'm not taking no for an answer and you better get your ass moving so we can make it to their table before anyone else. I'm warning you now, don't come in between me and my mission."

"Your mission? I thought you were helping me this whole time?"

"That dear brother was the first part and now that you have successfully talked to Bella, you don't need me anymore. Just let things flow."

"What?!" I panicked. I wasn't any good at this and I needed Alice to help me. I didn't want Bella to think I was weird and awkward.

"Alice, I still need your help and your advice."

"I'll still give you advice but you don't need my guidance anymore. You'll know what to do now. You did well my little apprentice."

What was I supposed to do now?

I looked down at her and shook my head as we headed to TGI Friday's for the after party.

**

* * *

**

I woke up the next morning determined to see Bella. I wasn't sure if she was working at the bookstore today but I thought I would go just to see if she was there.

I threw on my clothes and walked out of my room. I was proud that I made the effort to do this on my own without Alice pushing me. Maybe I didn't need Alice anymore aside from the occasional questions that I still might ask her. I felt confident that I could do things on my own. I wasn't sure where this confidence was coming from but I was determined.

I walked into the bookstore and saw Bella sitting at the counter reading a book. My heart skipped a beat as I watched her. She seemed so engrossed in the book that she didn't seem as if she was paying much to attention to anyone around her. Luckily, there was no one in line to pay for their items so I walked up to counter.

I saw that she was reading _Pride & Prejudice_ and remembered one of the book reviews she did on it a year ago. She wrote that it was one of her favorites.

"Bella?"

"Hey, Edward." She said and smiled back. She looked a little dazed and I wasn't sure if she was dreaming or not.

I didn't care. All I cared was that I was able to stand there staring at the beautiful brown-eyed girl in front of me.

I heard some people clearing their throats around us causing us to snap out our gaze.

"So … um … did you need any help with anything?" She asked.

SHIT! I didn't have anything with me. Why didn't I think of something before I approached her? I don't have an excuse as to why I'm here and why I wanted to talk to her. I'm such an idiot! Alice would kill me!

_Don't just stand there! Do something! _

"Oh, um, yeah. Here I wanted to buy these."

I randomly started grabbing things on the shelves under the counter and the racks sitting on top of the counter. I placed the items in front of her as she started to scan them. All I could do was stare at her again.

She looked up and caught me staring. I shook my head to break myself out of my daze. I saw that her face was covered with confusion. I looked down at what she was scanning and my eyes went wide.

SHIT! Why didn't I pay attention earlier to what I was grabbing?

_Confessions of a Shopaholic! Really, Edward! Can you be anymore stupid?! _

"That's an um … interesting choice." She said and smiled at me.

_Quick, think of an excuse! _

"Oh … um … I just picked that up for my sister. It's … it's a gift." I could feel my cheeks getting pink as I ran my hand through my hair.

"It's okay, I can keep a secret." She whispered to me and winked.

She thinks I'm gay!

_Great going, Edward! You get the girl of your dreams to think that you're gay! Can you screw this up anymore?!_

I was sure my face turned bright red.

"Oh, NO! Um … no, that is not for me." I stated.

"Sure, right?" She said with a smirk.

Was she joking around or being serious?

"NO! Seriously, I am not gay. I randomly picked up the things and figured it's something my sister would like." I hissed.

"Okay, I believe you." She said giving me a teasing smile.

She was joking. I scowled at her but then quickly gave her a smile.

"Good game, yesterday!" She said energetically.

"Yeah, you looked confused during the game. Did you start to understand some of it?"

She looked surprised. Did I give myself away?

She shook her head no. "I'm hopeless!"

"Well, I can explain it to you next time, if you want?" I offered.

_Please say yes._

She gave me a smile that made my heart race. "That … That would be great!"

I wanted to setup a time to meet up with her but the guy behind me in line started yelling at us.

"GOD, can you stop trying to flirt with her already and get the hell out of the line?"

_Thanks for making it obvious! _

I saw Bella's face turn red from embarrassment. She handed me my bag as I gave her an apologetic smile for taking up her time.

"Bye, Bella, see you Monday!"

"Bye, Edward!"

With one last look, I turned from the counter and walked out of the store as I headed back to my dorm.

I saw Lauren and Josh coming out from a hidden corner of the school. She was adjusting her shirt and skirt as Josh was adjusting his clothes as well. Josh was one of the players around school and always needed his Lauren fix whenever he wanted. He bragged about it to everyone even though most of his friends also had flings with Lauren and her friends here and there. It was a disgusting never-ending cycle of being used.

"Hey, Cullen." Josh said giving me a nod. He was trying to flaunt it not that I cared.

"Hey, Josh."

Lauren didn't look surprise that I caught them. If anything she eyed me more like she was ready for a second round, which made me cringe. I walked past them and ignored Lauren.

"Hey Eddie!" She yelled from behind me. I didn't want to turn around so I just raised my arm up and waved back at her.

Luckily, Josh started talking to her, which got her attention off me. I quickly headed back to my room.

I replayed what happened at the bookstore in my head over and over again. What if Bella really thinks that I am gay? Alice is really going to kill me!

**

* * *

**

"You did WHAT?!" Alice screamed as she jumped up from my couch. Her eyes were bulging out of her head.

"I did it by accident. I didn't mean to grab that book. Hopefully, my excuse that I bought it for you was believable."

She paused taking it all in and then started laughing.

"This is just hilarious!" She squealed and fell back onto the couch continuing to laugh.

"Alice, it's not funny. She thinks I'm gay or at least she thought I was."

She was laughing so hard she was wiping the tears away from her eyes. "This is just. I don't know what to say. I just can't believe you were so out of it to not pay attention!"

"Every time I'm with her I lose focus."

She finally stopped laughing as I sat glaring at her.

"Okay, okay. I've calmed down now. Well, I'm glad you actually bought that book because I have been wanting to read it but this is just too funny."

"Do you think I convinced her enough so that she doesn't think I'm gay?"

"Let me think. You've never had a girlfriend and you've never been spotted with another girl here romantically and the fact that you look like that. I would say that the odds are strongly against you. I really wouldn't be surprised if she did think you were gay." She burst out into laughs again.

"Alice, what do I do?"

"Well, ask her out on a date. Even if it's just teaching her about football you can ask her out casually to go to dinner and then watch a game after so you can explain it to her. I'm glad that you offered to teach her about it or we wouldn't be able to have an excuse and this gives you the perfect one!"

"A date?"

I never thought about asking her on a date. I was thinking more about just hanging out as friends.

"Yes. It's where two people go to hang out and get to know one another. Do you not know what a date is? Do we really need to start from the very beginning? Dating 101?" She said sarcastically.

"I know what a date is Alice but don't you think it's too soon for a date. I barely know her."

"That's the point of going on a date. It's to get to know each other more." She stressed.

"But I wanted to get to know her as friends first."

"You can still get to know her as friends on a date."

"What if she says no."

"She's not going to say no."

I thought more about it. Maybe I should ask her to dinner. Like Alice said it is the perfect time for me to ask because I told her I would teach her about football. That was a good excuse.

"You're thinking again!" Alice scolded.

"I think you're right. I'm going to ask her out to dinner on Monday."

"Good! Now where is the book?"

I pointed to the shopping back on my desk. She got up and walked to it and grabbed the book out.

"Edward! A pink bookmark too?!"

"Like I said, I wasn't paying attention."

She burst into another round of giggles as I turned on my TV and ignored her.

This was it. I was going to ask Bella on a date and I was going to do it on Monday!

* * *

**A/N: So I decided to incorporate more of Lauren in this story so everyone can see that she is a witch to everyone else not just Rose and Bella. SavageWoman gave me the idea of including players too so you will see more of Josh and his buddies in future chapters.**

**I also wanted to incorporate Emmett and his betting in here. Don't worry it's not going to play a big part or anything. It's just something I added for fun. **

**What did you think about this chapter? Did it surprise you? So Edward's going to ask Bella out on a date on Monday! But we all know what happens Monday ... **

**Next Chapter ... Tanya's Column and Scary Edward ... YIKES! **

**Please Review and Thanks for Reading! **


	6. In The End

**A/N: Again, thanks to everyone who added this to your alerts and who reviewed! I'm so glad you are liking the EPOV side to this story. **

**Now, I know everyone was wondering what was going on inside Edward's head when Tanya's column reported that Bella and Jasper were a couple. Well, read on! **

**You must read Ridge Crest Prep first in order to read this story or it won't make any sense.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Twilight or Ally McBeal. I do own the storyline and any characters that I make up.**

* * *

**Chapter 6 – In The End**

Song – In The End by Linkin Park

* * *

I woke up to a bright morning with the sun shining and the birds chirping. I knew that today was going to be a good day. I was going to ask Bella out on a date!

I jumped out of bed and got dressed quickly. I opened my door and snatched up the school newspaper, humming a light and cheery tune to myself. I walked over to my desk fumbling through the paper and found Bella's article.

This week she wrote about _Angels and Demons_ by _Dan Brown_. I read the book as well and agreed with the review that she gave. Although when I see her later today, I would have to argue that I thought the _Da Vinci Code_ was the better of the two.

I folded the piece of paper and put it in my desk drawer. I was about to recycle the rest of the paper when Tanya's column caught my eye.

I opened it up and I felt like all the air had been sucked right out of me. There in Tanya's column was the answer to one of my gnawing questions. A question I thought was answered by Emmett but apparently I was wrong.

_**Still Going Strong after Three Years and Going on their Fourth!**_ – _Jasper Hale and Bella Swan cute couple still together after all this time. Are they vying for Cutest Couple of the Year?_

Just then my cell phone rang. I didn't want to pick it up because I was too interested in reading the article and looking at the pictures but I knew who it was.

"Yeah?" I growled into the phone sounding annoyed.

"Did you see the article?" Alice said sounding deflated.

I tried to sympathize with her but I was going through a mix of emotions. Emotions that ranged from pain to anger so I lowered my voice and replied softly. "Yeah."

"What do you think this means?" I could hear the sadness in her voice and I knew exactly how she felt.

"I don't know, Alice. All I know is that Tanya only reports correct information if not exaggerated but it's always right."

"Oh." She went quiet. I could hear her breathing silently into the phone.

It hurt to hear my sister so sad. She was always full of life and full of excitement. Hearing her like this increased the aching in my heart ten-fold.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. "I had a feeling about this all along."

"But Emmett said they weren't together." Alice protested.

"I know but who knows how much he knew? Apparently, he was left in the dark like the rest of us."

"What are we going to do, Edward?"

Alice rarely asked me for advice and I knew she was lost just like I was.

"What can we do? They are together and from the looks of the pictures it looks like they have been for a long time now."

I scanned through the photos. Tanya included a timeline of them at RCP and had pictures of them dating back since freshman year. There were pictures of them leaving each other's dorms with duffle bags. It was obvious they were spending the night at each other's places. I could feel the pangs of jealously course through me.

There was one picture that hit me the most out of them all. I couldn't tear my eyes away from it. It was a picture after the football game of Bella and Jasper with their arms wrapped around each other and him giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Fury raged in my eyes but slowly died down. Why was I so mad?

I couldn't get mad. She wasn't mine to begin with. She was _his_. She was always his from the beginning. Just the looks they were giving each other screamed couple.

How could I not have noticed this before? Was I that stupid?

"Edward? Edward? Are you there?" Alice screamed into the phone bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah."

"There has to be an explanation. There's no way they are a couple."

Was she delusional?

"Alice, did you not see the pictures? Isn't that enough proof?" I sneered.

I didn't feel like talking about this anymore. I didn't feel like talking at all. I just wanted to think. I needed to think.

"I just don't believe it's true. Something has to be wrong."

She was always determined but I knew this time she would just set her heart up to be broken. I had to be blunt and honest with her for her own good.

"Listen, Alice. Just leave it alone. They are together. They are a couple. They always have been. Look at the pictures. Let's just forget about all this."

"Edward, why is it so easy for you to believe what this article says? Don't you have faith at all?"

_No. That was ripped away from me a few minutes ago. _

"Alice, I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'll see you at lunch, okay?"

"Fine but if I find out you're going to turn into brooding Edward I'm not going to talk to you." She hissed.

We both hung up the phone as I went back to staring at the paper in my hand. After a few minutes, I crumpled it up and threw it in the recycling bin.

How did my day go from good to bad in less than a minute?

**

* * *

**

"Hey, Edward." Steve called walking up next to me as I headed to first period. I didn't feel like talking so I grunted and gave him a nod.

He pulled me aside catching me off guard.

What the?

He looked around before talking to me. "Listen, I saw Tanya's column this morning."

What was that supposed to mean?

"So." I said and shrugged my shoulders pretending like I didn't care.

"Edward, I know you like Bella." He whispered.

What?! How does everyone seem to know?

I was about to argue with him when he interrupted me. "We were roommates sophomore year, I knew what you did every Monday morning with the paper and I know it wasn't the sports articles that peaked your interest."

Was I that obvious?! I wanted to hit myself for being so apparent.

"Yeah, well, that's not going to do me good anymore." I seethed.

"Calm down, Edward. We don't know if it's true or not."

"It was in Tanya's column."

"So who the hell cares? Just because it's in there doesn't mean it's true."

"Have you seen them interact with each other? The column only confirms it."

"That doesn't mean anything, Edward. They could just be good friends."

Was I going to get this talk from everyone?

I was so frustrated. I felt like I wanted to punch something. I was angry. Angry at myself for not doing anything about it freshman year. And angry that I let myself get so hung up on someone who could never like me.

"I'm done." I said while walking away hoping he would drop it. He looked at me and then sighed following behind me.

I could see girls trying to get my attention as I continued to walk to class but I didn't bother looking at anyone. I sure as hell knew I couldn't smile.

For the rest of the morning, I sat through my classes consumed in my own thoughts. All of the lectures from the teachers went in one ear and out the other.

I was dreading having to go to English and Biology today. I would have to see _her_ and I wasn't sure if I was ready for that yet.

The bell rang signalling the end of second period. I stomped off to third period with a permanent scowl etched on my face. Everyone could tell I was in a bad mood and I wasn't afraid to show it.

I marched into class thankful that _she_ wasn't there yet and slammed my book bag down and parked myself into my seat. I could hear the whispers from everyone in class. They were the same whispers that surrounded me all morning.

"What's up with Cullen?"

"Beats me. He looks like he has something stuck up his ass."

I scoffed at that comment and glared at the guy who said it. He cringed into his seat and looked away. That will teach him to shut the hell up and mind his own business.

I was too focused on my rage that I didn't even notice when Bella came trudging into the room slamming her things down plopping down into her desk angrily.

Why was she angry?

She didn't look at me or anyone and I could tell she was fuming. You could practically see the steam coming from her head as I was sure it was coming from mine.

Maybe she was secretly dating Jasper and upset that it was now in the open? Or maybe it was that time of the month for her?

Or maybe and there was a small possibility of this maybe. Her and Jasper weren't really a couple and she was upset about the lie.

I could tell I was starting to feel relieved at that thought but the constant questions that shrouded my brain made me upset again.

For the rest of the time period, she stayed still and didn't talk to anyone. Just as the bell rang, she stormed off and I knew she was still in a pissed off mood. I just didn't know why.

**

* * *

**

"I don't know, Edward. Look at them." Alice said trying to get me to look at Bella and Jasper sitting at their table during lunch. I vowed that I would not look over there anymore.

"They don't look like a happy couple if this news came out about them." Alice continued.

"That's exactly my point. I think it was all a cover up. A secret and now that their secret is blown, they're upset about it." I hissed.

"Okay, James Bond." Alice replied sarcastically rolling her eyes at me. "I just think there is something fishy with this news. I mean they both look upset and Emmett and Rose are laughing at them. If they were really dating secretly and their cover was blown, don't you think Emmett and Rose would be pissed off instead of laughing right now?"

She did have a point so I discreetly glanced over to their table to see what Alice was talking about.

She was right. Bella and Jasper looked pissed and Rose and Emmett were laughing and pointing at them. This just made me even more confused.

"I'm not having a good day so can we not talk about it anymore." I brushed it off and tried to eat my lunch even though I was picking at my food with my fork for the past thirty minutes.

"Geez, Edward. I really hate to see this side of you. I'm leaving. See you when you stop being such an ass." She huffed while getting up from the table, grabbing her things and walking off to class.

I didn't want Alice to be mad at me but when I was angry I just wanted to be alone. I didn't want to talk to anyone or do anything. I just wanted this day to be over with and possibly this entire year.

**

* * *

**

I walked into the locker room and threw my book bag into my locker. Biology sucked just as much as English as Bella was still clearly pissed off and was ignoring everyone and everything around her as I was.

Everyone that had a locker in my row stared at me wondering what was going on. I glared at them and they immediately went back to what they were doing. I started throwing on my uniform.

"So Jasper and Bella were together all this time. It's no wonder he always seemed jealous whenever I was around her. Not like it's a big surprise. Everyone assumed they were a couple." Mike said.

I could feel my hands starting to tighten into fists. I didn't want to be in here any longer than I had to especially having to listen to Mike and his friends gossip. They were worse than girls.

"Yeah, I know. Tanya's column just confirms it for everyone. Damn, he's had her all this time. That sneaky lucky bastard." Tyler said.

I slammed my locker door loudly and stormed outside while hearing Emmett's booming laugh in the background.

What did he think was so damn funny? They were talking about his sister and her relationship.

I shook my head. I didn't need any more questions. I needed to find answers but I was sure I was never going to get them.

**

* * *

**

It was Thursday and I was still in the same sour mood that I had been since Monday. I thought it would go away but it didn't. I didn't show the anger as much but it was there and fueling inside me.

I thought my feelings for her would subside knowing that she had a boyfriend now but they were still there and prominent. I was a hopeless case.

I did notice that Bella's mood was different on Tuesday and she seemed to be back to her old self. I wasn't sure what she was mad at on Monday and it baffled me even more. Alice tried to analyze Bella and Jasper's reactions at lunch everyday and she wasn't getting anywhere. All we knew was that they weren't mad anymore. The change in both of their moods was noticeable.

I walked into the locker room again for football practice throwing my things everywhere. I took out all my aggression on the field. All the guys knew something was up but they didn't know why except for Steve who didn't say a word. I wasn't sure if Emmett noticed and frankly I didn't give a shit. He was the one that told me that they weren't a couple and now the truth had to come out biting me in the ass.

As I finished putting on my uniform, Emmett put out his arm and blocked my way.

"I have to talk to you." He said.

"Can it wait?" I gritted through my teeth.

I didn't want to talk to Emmett. Hell, I could barely even talk to Alice as she was currently ignoring me.

"No. We're going to talk when everyone leaves the locker room." He said.

"Everyone OUT!" He shouted as all the guys scrambled out of the room.

"What is the matter with you Edward?" Emmett said lowering his voice.

"Nothing is the matter." I replied haughtily.

"You've been a ticking time bomb all week. One thing and it sets you off. What's going on man?"

"It's nothing, Em."

"This doesn't have to do with a stupid newspaper column that printed this past Monday, does it?"

"No." I lied.

"Because you know it's not true. Like I told you before. Never have been and never will." He repeated the same words to me that he said when I first asked him about Bella and Jasper.

I wasn't sure what to believe anymore. There were just too many things going on and too many things to think about.

"Whatever. Let's go out and practice." I tried walking past him when he firmly planted his arm in front of my way.

"No. Not until you calm down. I can't let you lash out at the guys for no reason. Edward, whatever it is that's bothering you. It'll work out okay? Trust me." He said.

I tried to listen to him but my mind was telling me the opposite. I knew I shouldn't take things out on others but I just couldn't control the rage. I knew I was wrong and that I had to say something.

"I'm fine, Emmett. I'm sorry for lashing out at the guys." I apologized.

He slapped my back. "Don't worry about it, dude. We just want non-brooding Edward back and hopefully, he makes an appearance soon."

I nodded in agreement. I just didn't know if non-brooding Edward would ever come back.

**

* * *

**

"Okay so I found out from my sources that whenever someone asks them if they are a couple they confirm that it's a no." Alice squealed loudly into the phone that I had to put it a few inches away from my ear afraid that I would go permanently deaf.

She called me after football practice and I was surprised that she was talking to me again.

"And?"

"What do you mean and? Edward, stop being so stubborn. This is obviously good news which means that the column is wrong. Why is it so hard for you to believe?" She scolded.

I couldn't answer her. I knew I was being stubborn.

"Alice, I have to go. I'm supposed to meet Bella at the library for our project."

"Fine. If you get a chance, just casually ask her about it. That way you get the confirmation and from the source itself. Have fun!"

I rolled my eyes at that comment. She went from depressed pixie to hyperactive pixie with a blink of an eye. She was obviously thrilled about this news but I didn't fully believe.

I knew the next few hours were going to be anything but fun. I walked over to the library and headed up to the fifth floor.

I walked into the same study room where we met last week. It's funny how things can change after the course of one week. We went from talking and on a way at being friends to now ... I wasn't sure. I didn't know what I wanted. I just knew I didn't want to talk.

Bella's back was facing me. She was listening to her iPhone tapping and drumming her pen against her notebook. I tapped her on the shoulder and called her name but it didn't seem to get her attention.

I tugged on one of her earphones popping it out of her ear as I heard _I Want You to Want Me _by_ Letters to Cleo_ blaring out into the room.

She looked up at me and I felt myself getting lost in her eyes. I had to stop myself.

_She's Jasper's girlfriend. Stop thinking about her! _

"Hey, sorry about that!" She said while shoving her iPhone into her bag.

"No, it's okay. I tapped your shoulder and called out your name but figured you couldn't hear me. Sorry if I scared you." I replied and sat down in the seat next to her.

I immediately started taking out my things and went to work. She must have realized that I wasn't in a mood to talk so she went to work as well. The entire time we worked in silence, which didn't help with the random thoughts that would keep popping up into my head.

I tried my best to focus on the task at hand. Then she called my name. "Edward?"

I desperately had to resist the urge to look at her. I kept my eyes and focus on the books and papers on the table.

"Yes?"

"Um, is something bothering you?" She asked.

She knew I was mad. Hell, anyone could tell.

I could hear a hint of worry and concern in her voice and I felt the need to want to look at her but knew that would be a bad idea. Again, I kept my focus on the work and replied.

"No, why do you say that?"

God, why am I being such a jerk to her?

Hopefully, she'll drop this and not question me anymore even though I wanted to ask her a million questions that were lying on the tip of my tongue.

"Are you sure?" You can tell me." She said with a tone of sincerity.

I paused to think about it. Should I ask her? It doesn't hurt to ask right? The answer could be yes or no. That's it. A simple answer to a simple question but did I really want to know the answer.

_Just ask her! _

I was right about to ask her about the article on Monday when Jasper came into the room and walked over to our table.

Great timing!

I could feel my jaw tighten.

"Hey, Jazz!" She said sounding excited.

"Hey, Bells!" He said rather enthusiastically.

Were they or weren't they a couple?

The green-eyed monster came out and I wanted to slam his head into the table.

Then I remembered that Bella told me they would always study together and on this floor. Suddenly, I felt like I was the one intruding on their study time.

"Jazz, this is Edward. Edward, this is Jasper." She said introducing us since it was the first time that I had met him.

I nodded my head to him as he did the same.

We were about the same height. If anything, I think I could take him on. I had more of an athletic build compared to his tall lanky frame.

_Stop, Edward! She's Jasper's girlfriend. She is with him not you! _

"Jazz, we're almost finished, could you wait a litt–" She was talking but I cut her off.

I knew it was rude but I couldn't take being in the same room with them anymore. My thoughts were driving me crazy.

"Actually, we're done." I said as I started gathering my things and throwing them into my book bag.

"We are?" She said sounding confused.

"Yeah, I finished up this part so we can work on the rest next time." I said quickly jamming the rest of my things into my bag. I had to get out of there right away.

I could feel my chest tighten and it was getting harder for me to breathe. I got up from my chair and flung my bag over my shoulder.

"Um, okay. I'll see you in class tomorrow then. I hope you feel better." She said as I walked quickly to the door.

"Bye." I muttered under my breath and ran from the room.

I stepped outside of the library and took a few deep breaths.

_What is wrong with you Edward?!_

I was extremely rude which was so unlike me. I knew I owed her an explanation and an apology. It wasn't fair for me to take things out on her and Jasper.

If anything, this was all my fault because I was too chicken shit to do anything about it. At least she would've had a choice freshman year and maybe she might've picked me.

Yeah, right. Only in my dreams.

I walked back to my dorm room hoping to wallow in my own self-pity. I was pathetic.

* * *

**A/N: There you have it! I feel so bad for poor moody Edward. He still likes her even though he thinks that she's Jasper's girlfriend! That's crushes for you right? And keep in mind the Edward in my story is not perfect. Bella only sees him as that but he has flaws. His extreme jealously, nervousness, awkwardness, shyness and possessiveness are a few. And let's not forget the major mood swings! Hahaha ... **

**I hope you liked this. I had to include the small part with Steve knowing Edward's secret because Edward is pretty obvious even though he thinks he's smooth. Hahaha ... and did you like how Edward sized himself up with Jasper?! Hilarious! **

**Did you like the Alice and Edward interaction and the Emmett and Edward interaction? Of course there will be brother/sister bickering. And with a brooding Edward and hyperactive pixie it's bound to happen. **

**Next Chapter ... He will see the light! =) **

**Please Review and Thanks for Reading! **


	7. Faith

**A/N: Thanks again for all the alerts and reviews! You guys are the best!!**

**Edward sees the light! But then of course there is another obstacle ... Jack! Read on! **

**You must read Ridge Crest Prep first in order to read this story or it won't make any sense.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Twilight or Ally McBeal. I do own the storyline and any characters that I make up.**

* * *

**Chapter 7 – Faith**

Song – Faith by George Michael

* * *

**KNOCK! KNOCK! **

Why should I bother to open the door? Why should I even get up from bed? All I wanted to do was sleep.

**KNOCK! KNOCK! **

"Come in." I barely mumbled not even sure if the person outside could hear me.

The door flung open to reveal Alice in her uniform standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips and a menacing glare on her face.

"God, Edward! When was the last time you took a shower?" Alice screeched as she stepped inside my room pinching her nose and slammed the door shut.

"It reeks in here!" She said waving her hand in the air in front of her nose.

It wasn't me that smelled. It was the old pizza boxes and Chinese take out boxes that sat in my kitchen that I was too lazy to clean up over the long weekend.

"What the hell is wrong with you? It's Monday and you have class today. Now get up and get ready!" She yelled.

That wasn't going to happen. I ignored her and went back to sleep.

"You have to get up and out of bed. Now!"

She went over to the window and swung open the curtains letting the light penetrate the room. It blinded my eyes so I stuffed me face deeper into my pillow. Then she went to cleaning up the kitchen and throwing away the dirty boxes.

"I'm sick. I don't feel good. I'm not going to class today." I mumbled.

"Stop being such a baby! You are not sick! God, nothing even happened with you two and you're acting like this? Stop being so melodramatic!"

"That's not the reason why I'm like this Alice. Just leave me alone and let me go back to bed." I sneered.

Maybe it was partially the reason why I was acting like this but I just didn't feel like going to class today. I had to suffer through it all last week. Why can't I take one day off?

We also lost our football game over the weekend. I knew I wasn't playing as well as I should have been and I blamed myself for the lost even though Emmett assured me that it wasn't my fault.

"Fine. I guess you don't want to read the new news about Bella and Jasper in Tanya's column this morning."

She took out the newspaper and started scanning it with her eyes.

"Oh, what could it be that they are going to Homecoming together? Big freaking deal. I don't care." I growled. Why did she have to pour more salt into the wound?

She narrowed her eyes at me and began reading out loud.

"Jasper Hale and Bella Swan Secret Relationship Revealed After Kept Secret for Five Years."

I jumped out of bed toward Alice and ripped the paper out of her hands yelling. "What?! Five Years?!"

I scanned the article. That wasn't what it said. I scratched my head in confusion.

I heard a burst of pixie-like giggles. I looked up and saw her practically rolling on the floor.

"GOTCHA!" She yelled.

I was about to kill her but my mind wandered back to what the article said. So I went on to read the rest of the paragraph.

_**Jasper Hale and Bella Swan Best Friends, Who Knew?**_– _As we reported last week that Bella Swan and Jasper Hale were a couple, that was incorrect information and we would like to clear this up._

The rest of the article went on explaining that they were best friends and have been since they were kids and they only liked each other as brother and sister.

I felt the weight lift off my shoulders. I felt like I could breathe again.

It was odd to be feeling so much better after reading a stupid article. I don't know why I doubted what everyone else was saying to me the entire time. It was mostly my stubborn side that won out last week and I knew it wasn't prepared to admit defeat.

I looked up once I was done reading and saw that Alice finally calmed down. She was smiling at me. She had the same twinkle in her eye that she lost last week during all the confusion.

"See! I told you it would all work out! I still can't believe you were so upset about it!" She squealed.

Then she started laughing. "I still can't believe you fell for that! That was good!"

"Alice!" I scolded.

"Okay fine. I'll stop. You have to get ready for school!"

I jumped off of my bed and ran into the bathroom. I showered quickly got dressed and came out.

"Geez, excited much? What was that? Record time? I thought you were sick and not feeling well." She said looking at her watch.

"All better now." I gave her a smile.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Seriously Edward, you have major mood swings."

Tell me something I don't know. I knew that. Everyone knew that.

"Let's go to class." I said to Alice.

"Now someone wants to go to class. Sheesh." She said and grabbed her bag following me out of my room.

We walked out through the courtyard and heard a bunch of girls screaming. I turned to look and saw Jasper practically running for his life with a swarm of girls chasing after him.

"Looks like someone just got himself a fan club." I smirked to Alice who was not looking happy.

"That's not good." She huffed staring after them. I laughed.

"Jealous, much?" I teased. She scowled at me causing me to laugh more.

"Don't laugh too soon, Edward. Looks like you have a lot more competition than you hoped for." She said nodding toward the opposite side of the courtyard.

I saw Bella walking toward class with her head down and looking at the floor. She was walking extremely fast. She looked like she was trying to get away from the group of guys that were following her.

The guys following her looked like they were ready to declare their love for her. We could even hear guys passing by us talking about her.

"That's Bella Swan. She's single and hot." The guy said to his friend as they ogled her and walked toward class.

I didn't like it at all. I could feel the blood boiling in my veins.

"Calm down, Edward! It was bound to happen!" Alice yelled.

"What did you think would happen after this news broke out? That she would come flying into your arms. Think again, pretty boy! Now you better work for it! Because it looks like your competition meter went up a thousand notches." She smirked and walked away to her first period class.

I looked around and practically every guy was talking about Bella or looking at her. What was I going to do?

**

* * *

**

It was third period and I was sitting in my desk waiting for Bella to show up. Just then I saw her running into class panting and breathing heavily. I knew she was trying to get away from guys and I didn't know if I should laugh or if I should go out there and kill them.

She walked over to her desk and threw down her things. Her hair was slightly messy and her skirt was crooked. She was still trying to stabilize her breathing.

I couldn't help but laugh. She looked so cute.

"Looks like someone is having a good day." I joked.

"Just great!" She replied sarcastically as she slid into her seat. It made me laugh again.

"It's not funny!" She yelled while pouting at me.

She was cute when she was mad. And the more upset she got, it made me laugh even more.

She crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes at me. Then she turned around to face the front of the room.

"Okay, okay. I'll stop laughing now." I said calming myself down.

She ignored me. Was she really mad?

"Bella, Bella." I called but she still ignored me.

_SHIT! Great job, you just pissed her off, idiot!!_

"Bella, are you mad at me?" I whispered into her ear since some people were staring at us now. I thought I saw her shiver. Was she cold?

"Hhmpf." She miffed. She didn't seem mad.

I laughed again at her angry pout as Mrs. Cooper came in to start class. Class flew by and when the bell rang, I saw Bella gathering up her things quickly and started rushing out to her next class or was she rushing out because she was mad at me.

Was she really mad?

I had to know what she was thinking. I followed her out of the room and grabbed her arm stopping her from walking off.

"Bella, are you really mad?" I said.

We were standing in the middle of the hallway and people were staring at us but I ignored it.

She turned her head to look up at me and smiled. "No, but it was fun to see your face just now!"

She laughed. Was she flirting with me?

I let go of her arm and sighed with relief. "I really thought you were mad at me." I said.

"No, I'm not mad. I'm just surprised that you're talking to me again." She said shrugging her shoulders and looking down at the floor.

She knew I was avoiding her.

_Duh, Edward! She's not stupid! _

She looked sad that I stopped talking to her. I felt a sharp pain in my chest.

_Way to go, idiot! Say something! _

"Oh, yeah, that … I was …" I paused while running a hand through my hair.

What was I supposed to say? I'm completely smitten with you and have been for the past three years and I was upset when I found out that you had a boyfriend and didn't listen to anyone else telling me that you were really just best friends. Yeah, that'll go over well.

I was about to say something but was surprised when she spoke first.

"Listen, if you were mad at me about what happened at the bookstore and comments that I made to you about buying the _Confessions of a Shopaholic_ book, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I was just joking around and if you really are gay then that's fine. There is nothing wrong with that. I won't treat you any differently." She said quietly hoping that no one around us would hear.

I stared at her in shock. She thought I was mad at her because of what happened at the bookstore. God, so she really does think I'm gay!

_Smooth. Real smooth, Edward! _

"Th-that wasn't the reason why I was upset last week. I was upset because of something else that was bothering me but I'm okay now." I said.

"Are you sure?" She asked narrowing her eyes at me. She was trying to read if I was telling the truth.

"Yes, I'm sorry for being rude last week." I said sincerely. She looked into my eyes trying to see if I was being truthful and I wanted her to see that I was.

"Apology accepted, Mr. Mood Swings." She said as she gave me a smile.

I didn't care that she called me that. I realized that we could read each other so well and we still barely knew each other that it made me smile even more.

"Okay, well I have to get to the gym before anyone stops me. I'll see you in Biology." She said about to run away.

I had no idea what I was doing next but I felt my body reacting to her. I've never been so bold before with anyone but I felt confident around her.

I pulled her arm pressing her body against my chest so I could lean down and whisper in her ear. I didn't want anyone else to hear us. "I'm not gay and I wasn't mad at you."

I could feel the warmth radiating from our bodies. I could smell the strong lavender and vanilla scent emanating from her hair.

"Um, okay." She squeaked as she headed out toward the gym. Her face flushed bright red. She was always so cute when she was embarrassed about something.

I chuckled to myself and called out after her. "See you in Biology, Bella!"

I watched as she ran off. Then I felt someone slap my back.

"Way to go, Cullen!" I cringed at the voice. It was Josh. I turned to look at him watching Bella like she was a piece of meat. I wanted to rip his head off.

"Not even lunch yet and you've made the moves on the female Swan. Nice job. Care to share?" He smirked at me.

"Don't even think about it!" I yelled.

His eyes widened as he put up his hands in front of him and said. "Dude, chill! Okay, alright. I take it she's off limits then."

"Yeah, and make sure your friends now that as well." I said through my clenched teeth before walking away.

With Josh and his friends eyeing her, this wasn't good at all. I had to warn Emmett.

**

* * *

**

"Move it! We are eating lunch with them today so hurry up!" Alice screamed. She went off to get her lunch. I already had mine and decided to make my way to Bella's table.

I saw Bella, Jasper and Rose laughing but Emmett looked a little pissed off. I'm sure it was because of all the attention Bella was getting. He was in overprotective brother mode.

Luckily, there was no one around Bella so I grabbed the empty seat next to her and set down my tray. She didn't see me and when she realized that someone sat down next to her she looked at me as I smiled at her.

She gave me a shy smile and then went to looking through her lunch bag. "Hi." She said.

"Hey."

I hope she didn't mind that I was sitting here. What if she wanted someone else to sit here?

I quickly said hi to Rose and Jasper and did a handshake with Emmett.

Then Alice came over to the table with a huge smile on her face. "Hey, Edward, can I sit with you guys?"

I saw Bella and her exchange smiles and knew they would get along. I motioned for her to take the empty chair that was next to Jasper. I was sure she was screaming inside.

"Alice, this is Rose, Emmett, Bella and Jasper. Guys, this is my sister, Alice."

I saw that Alice and Jasper started talking and that Rose and Emmett were off in their own world. Then Alice threw me a glaring look to say something to Bella.

I cleared my throat. "So Bella, you write the music and book review column for the _Ridge Crest Times_, right?" I asked.

I was horrible at making small talk. Hopefully things will just flow like Alice said.

"Yeah, I'm surprised you know that." She said.

Surprised? Why would she be surprised? It was the best column in the entire paper. Maybe that was just my opinion but I loved it.

"Why? I think it's a great column. I read it every Monday." I said truthfully.

She had to know that it was good. I saw her turning bright red.

"Well, I didn't think anyone read the rest of the paper except for Tanya's column." She replied.

I knew a few other people who read her column and talked about it. She just had no idea about how great she was and that intrigued me more.

I was annoyed that people would read Tanya's column over Bella's but I knew that was how high school was and always would be. Completely centered around gossip.

"I think there are a lot of people who read your column but I can see why Tanya's column seems to hold more interest at this school."

"You don't like Tanya's column? Even I admit that it's my guilty pleasure." She said and laughed.

I laughed picturing her reading the column each week. I didn't think she read it but I would by lying if I didn't say that I read it too. "Well, I didn't say that I don't read it but I just don't see why gossip is such a big deal here."

"I agree. I don't know why it's such a big deal but it's high school so I guess it's the norm. But don't you like how you're always mentioned?" She teased.

I hated being mentioned in that stupid column. It was the one thing that I wish would disappear aside from Lauren Mallory.

"No! I hate it. I don't like attention." I muttered.

She started choking on her food, which nearly gave me a heart attack. I started patting her back hoping she was okay.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine." She wheezed. "I was just surprised that's all."

"Surprised? Did you really think that I enjoy being in the spotlight?" I asked. I was curious what she thought about me.

"Well, you are captain of the basketball team, quarterback of the football team, ASB President and the list goes on and on. I mean you're perfect and the most popular guy in school. How could anyone not think that you don't like attention?"

My eyes widened. Everything she just said flew out the window. I only centered on one word. Perfect. She thinks I'm perfect? That was the only word that I caught. My heart started to race. If she only knew that I thought that about her.

"You think I'm perfect?" I said in awe.

"Um, yeah, I mean is there anything that you can't do? You seem like you are good at everything." She said nonchalantly. It felt like she was trying to play it off but I wasn't for sure.

She obviously had no clue how hard it was for me to talk to her right now. I was definitely not good at everything especially anything that had to do with her.

"You have no idea." I murmured under my breath. I wasn't sure if she heard me.

We started talking with everyone else at the table and joined in on the conversation. It was good to get to know everyone else more. Everything felt comfortable. I was glad to see that Alice was quickly making friends with Rose and Bella.

They exchanged contact information and decided to go shopping with her on Wednesday after class.

I wasn't so sure if that was a good idea. I didn't want Alice to scare Bella away. I glanced at Alice nervously and she gave me a smirk. She was practically screaming at me to relax in her stare.

Was it too soon to inflict the craziness of Alice's obsession to Bella?

**

* * *

**

"Emmett, I think you should watch out for Bella now that the news is out that she's single." I whispered to him in the locker room.

"Did you see all the guys following her and looking at her and talking about her today?" I added.

He nodded his head and looked upset.

"What should I do? I had no idea that my little sister would cause all this attention. Maybe it was better off that people thought she was with Jasper." He sighed.

I didn't like that thought.

"I'm not sure what you should do but I know that Josh and his friends are interested."

I could see the fury rage in Emmett's eyes. His fists tightened and he looked like he was about to punch a locker. I tried to calm him down. "I took care of it. But I think you should watch out for her."

It was then that I saw a light bulb flash on over his head. I could see the gears turning in his brain. This didn't look good.

"I have an idea." He said.

"YO GUYS! GATHER AROUND!" He shouted. The entire football team ran over to our row and gathered around him.

"Listen up. Now my sister has been getting harassed and I want you all to watch out for her. Keep an eye on her and I want her to be escorted by one of us to every class, got that?"

Why did he have to tell everyone that? I could've easily offered to do that.

"Now, I need volunteers." More than half of the room raised their hands to volunteer making me want to punch every single one of them.

"Forget it, Mike! You and your friends are to just watch out for her but you're not going anywhere near my sister, got that?" Emmett boomed glaring at Mike who cowered behind Tyler.

"Okay. Well, how about this. I'll just choose the guys." He said as everyone put their hands down looked defeated.

"Edward, you have third and fifth with her, right?" He asked and I nodded.

I wanted to walk her to class without Emmett telling me to but this gave me the perfect excuse. I was upset that I couldn't be the one to walk her to every class but I didn't want to make it so obvious.

"Good. You take those shifts." And then he went on assigning shifts to people.

"And make sure not to spill the beans. This stays within the team. If I find out one of you told her, you owe me drills on the field. Alright, let's get out to practice." He said.

I walked out of the room but saw Jack pulling Emmett aside and whispering something to him. Emmett looked surprised.

I wonder what he was saying to him?

**

* * *

**

I knew that Jack was supposed to walk Bella to her first and second period classes and I was supposed to intercept her after her second period class to walk her to third.

I wasn't sure what was going on with Jack but he was acting different since yesterday. He seemed happier than usual and excited about something but I had no idea what it could be. I'll have to ask him about it later.

I leaned up against the wall waiting for Bella to come out of her AP Calculus class. I saw her walking out of the room. Beautiful. She looked at me and I smiled at her. Jasper was talking to her but she didn't seem to be paying attention.

I started walking toward her direction then I saw Jasper huff and walk away.

"Hey Bella." I said tilting my head toward her as I approached her.

"Hi." She squeaked and cleared her throat. "Oh, um, what are you doing here?"

"I came to walk you to English class, is that okay?"

"Yeah, fine." She replied as she started heading toward her next class.

I looked over at her and she looked deep in thought. I wonder what she's thinking about. I thought I caught her looking at me from the corner of my eye. And then she stopped walking.

What was going on?

I stopped next to her giving her a curious look.

"Edward, why are you walking me to class?" She asked.

Shit! I didn't think she would ask me about it.

I obviously couldn't tell her that Emmett asked me to but that I really wanted to without her knowing. I had to come up with an excuse. Hopefully, it was good enough.

"I just finished my AP Calc class and it was in the same building so I figured I'd wait for you and walk with you to English." I shrugged my shoulders trying to play it off.

"But how did you know I had AP Calc class for this period and in that room?" She asked narrowing her eyes at me.

I couldn't look at her and I tried to think of what to respond with. Of course, I knew she had AP Calc this period but I didn't want to tell her it was because I was semi-stalking her. Emmett only helped by telling me the exact classroom she was in and I couldn't tell her that either.

Then she placed her hands on her hips and started shouting. "What is it? You have to tell me!"

I winced. She was scary when she was mad. "I promised I wouldn't say anything so let's get going to English class." I pleaded.

"NO!" She yelled. Her stubborn side was definitely kicking in.

"I'm not going to English class until you tell me what is going on. First, Jack and now you …"

She trailed off. I saw that she realized what was going on and I cringed.

"What did my brother tell you to do?!" She yelled louder this time.

I saw a crowd forming around us so I grabbed her arm leading her toward English class. Once we got outside our English classroom door, I lowered my voice so that no one could hear us. "He'll kill me if I tell you so could you please stop making a scene."

She looked adorable being upset and I had to resist the urge to burst out laughing. She was so small but yet she had a temper.

Then I froze as she walked closer to me. What was she doing?

She got as close as she could to me and I could smell the scent of her shampoo which was invigorating. Then she looked up at me from under her long eyelashes and said, "Please, Edward," while pouting out her bottom lip.

I just about melted into a puddle right there. I was completely taken with her. I would do anything she asked me to do.

Why did I not talk to her sooner?

I snapped myself out of my daze. "Fine, but you didn't hear it from me." I whispered looking around making sure there was no one around us.

"Emmett was upset that all of the guys were hitting on you once they found out that you and Jasper weren't a couple so he told the football team that you had to be watched at all times and that you could never be alone. So he gave us your class schedule and made sure that you had an escort at all times."

"He did WHAT?!" She shouted.

That was not the reaction I was expecting. I had to make sure no one heard her so I placed my hand over her mouth to keep her from shouting. I felt the familiar tingle of electricity shoot through my arm.

She stopped talking and frowned at me. I wanted to laugh again but held it inside. "Will you promise to stop shouting?"

She nodded her head yes as I removed my hand.

"I can't believe he did this!" She hissed.

The bell rang so I pulled her into class. I knew she was upset at Emmett but it was for her own good. I could only imagine what would've happened if Josh or one of his goons tried talking to her.

For the entire class period she was fuming. And when the bell rang, she jumped out of her seat and raced out the door.

She ran so fast that I could barely keep up with her. I yelled. "Bella, wait!"

She stopped when I got closer to her. I was surprised that she wasn't on the track team.

"Emmett is so DEAD!" She screamed.

Definitely scary when she was mad.

"Calm down! He was only trying to protect you."

"I don't need his protection or the rest of the football team for that matter! I can protect myself!" She sneered and stalked off toward the gym.

"And you don't have to walk me to gym, Edward! I know you're only doing it because my stupid idiotic brother told you to but I can go by myself!"

I cringed. I didn't want her to think that.

Then she stopped and turned around to face me. She took a few deep breaths and then closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry that I yelled at you." She said lowering the tone of her voice. She opened her eyes to look at me. "I'm just mad at Emmett and I shouldn't take it out on you."

"No, it's okay. Are you okay now?" I asked.

I thought I was the only one that had a rage that I couldn't control.

"I'm fine." She said.

We started walking again toward the gym when I decided I should tell her. I had to let her know that I wasn't walking her to class just because Emmett forced me to.

"Can I tell you a few things?"

"Sure, go ahead." She said.

"First of all, you are scary when you're mad." I gave her smile as she laughed.

"Second, there is no doubt in my mind that you are Emmett's sister." She laughed again.

"Third, I wanted to walk you to class not because Emmett told me to. It gave me the chance to get your class schedule." I said being completely serious. I hoped that she would know that I really meant to walk her. She just didn't need to know that Emmett's idea was the perfect excuse for it.

She looked dazed but I wasn't for sure. We were standing in front of the girls locker room so I knew it was time for me to go.

"Bye, Bella." I smiled as I turned and walked away.

The whole interaction with her was driving me crazy and I knew I had to do one thing at lunch and that was to ask her out on a date before anyone else could. I had to find Emmett.

**

* * *

**

"Hey man!" I said to Jack as we got in line to get food.

"Hey!" He said giving me a nod.

"So what's been making you happy?" I asked as we headed to the tables in the food court.

"Why do you say that?"

"I don't know. You just seem different. Especially after football practice yesterday. What gives?"

He looked around making sure no one would hear him. Then he whispered. "I asked Emmett if I could ask Bella out on a date and to Homecoming. He said yes so I'm going to ask her right now."

He smiled looking really excited.

WHAT?! I knew that Jack thought she was cute but this confirmed that he liked her. I could tell my face fell into a frown and I couldn't help it. My sour mood was slowly creeping back up again.

A date and Homecoming? Couldn't he just pick one selfish bastard? I just wanted to rip the damn smile off his face.

Damn it! When was I ever going to catch a break? Alice had warned me to call Bella last night and ask her on a date but I wanted to wait to talk to Emmett about it first. I couldn't find him earlier so I thought I would ask him at lunch and then ask Bella. Now that plan went to shit. Jack beat me to it.

Would she say yes to him? What about Homecoming? What if they become a couple?

I was starting to get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as another round of questions fired off in my brain.

Jack wasn't paying attention to me as he walked off toward their table. He was definitely in a good mood. I watched them carefully curious as to what Bella's reaction would be.

They started talking and when Jack was asking her a question she started choking on her food. Rose had to slam her first against Bella's back.

She seemed surprised by him asking whatever question it was. Then I saw Jack's face fall into a frown.

**YES! REJECTED!**

I didn't know if it was for a date or Homecoming but I was glad that she rejected him. Then they were talking again. I saw Rose say something, which caused Jack to jump up from the seat excitedly. Bella's face was covered with confusion.

What just happened?

He walked back to the table I was sitting at with a big grin on his face.

"I'm going out with Bella Swan on Saturday!" He said. Alice's eyes went wide as she nearly dropped the half eaten sandwich from her mouth. Steve choked on his Coke.

So she said yes to him. It didn't look like she did unless Rose answered for her. I could've sworn that I saw Bella slap Rose's arm. She didn't look like she wanted to go and I wasn't sure if I should be happy about that or still upset that Jack asked her first.

If things do go well, what if she wanted to be with Jack? I could feel non-brooding Edward making his appearance again.

I tried to pretend to be happy for him but I couldn't. I wasn't happy at all.

I tuned out the rest of the conversation as Brian and Scott asked him questions. Steve gave me a sympathetic look and Alice gave me an angry stare pretty much telling me off.

When was I ever going to get my chance?

* * *

**A/N: Well, what did you think? Poor Edward ... ups and downs! Well, don't worry ... we all know what happens with Bella and Jack! But of course, you'll see it from Edward's eyes! =) **

**Next Chapter ... Cheesecake Factory and some other things that I'm still thinking about adding! **

**Please Review and Thanks for Reading! **


	8. Iris

**A/N: Thanks again for all the alerts and reviews! You guys are the best!!**

**Sorry for the late update. I know you're used to me updating once or twice a week. I've been traveling and I got lazy. But I'm back again so don't worry! **

**Cheesecake Factory! Need I say more?! **

**You must read Ridge Crest Prep first in order to read this story or it won't make any sense.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Twilight or Ally McBeal. I do own the storyline and any characters that I make up.**

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**Chapter 8 – Iris **

Song – Iris by Goo Goo Dolls

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"What's wrong now?" Emmett asked on our way out to the field for football practice.

"Nothing." I replied with my shoulders slumped.

"Well, it doesn't look like it's nothing. You're not going to become brooding Edward again, are you? Come on, man. You have to lighten up. Plus, you owe me $100."

"What? Why do I owe you $100?"

"Because you chicken shit, Jack beat you to it. I really thought you were going to ask Bella first."

"Well, I was going to ask last night but I wanted to talk to you about it first."

"I already gave you my blessing. Are you always this uptight? Geez."

"No. I'm not. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it and all."

"Dude, Edward. You need to loosen up. Be like me." He said like it was the coolest thing on earth.

"Emmett, I don't think I want to act like an 8-year old."

"Hey, it works for me!" We laughed.

"Listen buddy, I'm fine with you and Bella. If you want to ask her on a date, just do it! Like I said, you're a cool guy and I know you'll protect her. You just need to do something about it." He slapped my back causing me to flinch and walked off toward the coach.

Yeah, but when was I going to do it?

**

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**

KNOCK! KNOCK!

I jumped off my bed and grabbed the door. I was surprised to see Jasper standing in the doorway. We never really talked to each other before.

"Hey, Edward."

"Hey, Jasper. What's up?"

"Um, I just wanted to talk to you about something. Is it okay if I come in?"

"Sure." I stepped aside letting him into my room as I closed the door. I was wondering what he wanted to talk about. Was it about Bella? Alice?

"What's going on?" I asked.

He seemed slightly nervous and was shifting his feet around. "Well, um. I just wanted to ask if you'd be okay if I ask Alice out on a date."

"I'm glad you asked me but yeah, no problem. Alice would really like that." I never had a problem with Jasper. Maybe only during that time when I thought he was Bella's boyfriend but other than that, he always seemed like a cool guy.

He looked up at me with a big grin. "Really?"

"Yeah. Don't tell her I said that though." He laughed.

"Oh and I wanted to tell you thanks for the $100."

I raised my eyebrows in confusion.

"You were the one that made the bet with Emmett?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. Sorry but I didn't think you would ask her first. I've seen the way you looked at her for the past three years now and had a feeling you would back out. I was hoping you wouldn't but you did. What's going on?"

He knew all this time too. Well, no surprise there.

"I was going to ask her. I wanted to talk to Emmett about it first but Jack beat me to it."

"I know that all of this can be frustrating with all the recent news and all. Just don't give up." He said walking toward the door. He was hinting toward something and I wasn't sure what to think about it.

"Oh and Jasper. If you hurt Alice, I'll kill you." I said seriously.

"You have my permission to." He nodded and walked out the door.

**

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**

"Okay, Edward. I'm going shopping with Rose and Bella tonight so I'm going to find out what's going on with Bella and Jack." Alice whispered to me as we walked to lunch.

"Alice, you don't need to spy for me. I'm fine. I think I'm just going to wait it out and see what happens."

That was the conclusion I came up with. I'd continue being Bella's friend and getting to know her as a friend. I wanted to wait out to see what would happen with her and Jack if anything happened romantically. It was my idea to step aside. I just didn't know if it was a smart one.

"What do you mean wait it out? You're not giving up are you?"

"No. I'm just going to give her the time she needs with Jack."

"Are you crazy?!" Alice screamed causing people to stare at us.

"Can you keep your voice down?"

"She doesn't need time with Jack. The sooner you make the move the more options she has. And guaranteed there will be someone else other than Jack if you don't act soon. And what is with you lately? You're acting like someone ran over your dog. I think I prefer brooding Edward over sulking wimpy ass Edward."

I decided to change the subject.

"So what's going on with you and Jasper?"

I didn't tell her about Jasper visiting me and asking me if it was okay to ask her out on a date. I figured she would want to be surprised. Girls liked surprises, right?

"Things are going good. Unlike the progress you are barely making. We at least talk on the phone. We talked all night last night. I barely got any sleep but it was all worth it." She yawned and stretched her arms.

"Well, that's good. Maybe something might happen soon."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

"Don't nothing me, Edward Anthony Cullen! You better tell me right now." When we were kids, I was afraid of Alice and with her using my full name but as we grew older I got used to it and it stopped bothering me. I was sure she was pissed that she no longer had that effect on me.

"Don't worry about it Alice. Don't you want to be surprised?"

"Yes and No. Ugh! You're killing me! Fine. I'll wait to find out but if nothing happens by the end of this week, I am going to bug you to death about it."

I knew that would happen so hopefully Jasper would ask her soon.

**

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**

I got back to my room after practice and threw my gym bag on the floor. I figured Alice was still on her shopping spree with Rose and Bella. I wasn't hungry yet but figured I'd kill some time by doing homework.

I started working on my English essay but my mind kept drifting off to Bella. What should I do? I was stuck. One side of me wanted to admit defeat and wave up the white flag in surrender. But I didn't really try anything yet so there wasn't really a point to admitting defeat when I never did anything in the first place. The other side of me was trying to fight but I just didn't know how I should go about it. I couldn't ask her on a date now that she was already going on a date with Jack this Saturday. If anything, I'd have to wait until next week to ask her.

I hoped that Alice wasn't driving Bella crazy right now. I took out my phone and decided to text her. I could just check in and see what was going on.

From: Edward

To: Bella

_How's the shopping? =) _

I pushed the send button and within a minute, I got a response back.

To: Edward

From: Bella

_Thanks for the heads up about Alice and her craziness with shopping! My feet are about to fall off and I'm about to die from hunger all thanks to you!_

I laughed when I read her response. I decided to be bold as I texted her back.

From: Edward

To: Bella

_Hahaha … you agreed to go with her. I didn't pressure you but I wouldn't want you to die. Did you need me to come rescue you?_

I sat in silence silently tapping my foot on the floor. What if she said no? This was my chance to take her out to dinner. Granted it wasn't a date but we would be spending time with each other and that was all I wanted. After a few minutes, I got a response back and opened the text.

To: Edward

From: Bella

_Please help me! They are coming over to me right now dragging me off to god knows where else. I'm seriously going to pass out if I don't get food in this body! _

YES! I jumped up from my desk. I went to change quickly throwing on my dark jeans and a navy blue button up shirt. I grabbed my letterman jacket as I headed out the door practically running to the mall.

I walked inside and called Bella to find out what store they were in. She was whispering and it made me laugh because you could hear the desperation in her voice. She must really be hungry.

I walked into the store and felt someone grab my arm dragging me over to the side.

"You have to help me! They are nuts and I am starving!" She said.

"Well, hello to you too." I chuckled.

She was extremely cute when she was nervous and scared. I saw her eyes widen and looked toward the direction of her gaze. Rose and Alice were walking toward us with huge grins on their faces.

"What are you doing here Edward?" Alice asked.

I knew she was wondering what was going on. She gave me a sneaky glance that I hoped no one else noticed.

"I actually had to ask Bella about our project and we figured that we have to work on it a bit more tonight. Is it okay if I steal her away from you?" I replied smoothly.

Alice looked like she was about to jump up and down.

Rose responded. "Sure."

I grabbed Bella's shopping bags from her hands and we walked out of the store saying bye to them. Alice threw me a wink and I knew I would be expecting a phone call from her later tonight.

"Oh, Thank God! You saved me!" She sighed.

I laughed at how relieved she sounded. "You know most girls love shopping. I'm surprised that you want to leave."

"I don't mind going shopping if it's for two hours but going onto five hours without any food, that is definitely something I can't handle! I need to be fed!" I chuckled. Definitely Emmett's sister.

I started walking toward _Cheesecake Factory_ because I knew that was one of her favorite restaurants.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"It's a surprise. Follow me." I said.

"You know, I really hate surprises. Can't you tell me, please?" She pouted. I hated when she did that. I would do anything for her with that pout and I would've given in but I stood my ground.

"Really? You hate surprises? You are definitely different than any other girl I know. Most girls love surprises."

"Yeah, but I am not like most girls."

"I realized that." She definitely wasn't.

As soon as the restaurant came into view, she was practically jumping up and down. "_Cheesecake Factory_! This is one of my favorite restaurants!" She squealed.

"I know." I muttered under my breath hoping she didn't hear me. That would just bring on a whole slew of questions that I wasn't sure if I was ready to answer just yet.

We sat down at a small table that we were escorted to at the back of the restaurant. It was dark and dim and not very crowded. I could tell people were whispering and staring at us but Bella didn't seem to notice. She was too busy looking at the menu.

Once the waitress came to take our orders and left, it was just the two of us alone. I could feel my hands starting to sweat. I looked at the beautiful angel sitting across from me and could feel a tightening in my chest.

_Hurry up and say something, Edward!_

Before I could say anything, she spoke first. "So what college do you want to go to after RCP?"

"Stanford is my first choice but my parents are making me apply to all the Ivy Leagues." I said.

"My parents are forcing me to do the same too but Stanford is also my first choice." I smiled at what she said.

If we both got into Stanford, I would get to be around her for another four years. My thoughts started running and I knew I had reel myself back in to focus.

"What do you plan to major in?" I asked.

"I plan to major in literature. I really enjoy reading and writing. I'm hoping to become a writer or editor. What about you?" That didn't surprise me. I knew that was what she wanted to do and I knew she would be successful at it.

"I'm looking into their pre-law program, I want to become a lawyer."

I was anxious to hear her response to my decision. It wasn't always welcomed warmly.

"That's great! What kind of lawyer are you looking at becoming?"

I was shocked. No one was really supportive of it aside from my parents and Alice. It was frustrating having people judge me just from what they saw on the outside. No one really knew the real me. They only believed what they wanted to hear.

"I want to be a District Attorney. I've always been interested in criminology and wanted to help put criminals behind bars."

I wasn't sure what she was thinking but it was definitely unexpected so I had to ask her the one question that was bugging me.

"You're not going to tell me that I should pursue a career in sports?" I asked.

"Why would I do that?" She said curiously.

"Well, most people assume that I would try to get a sports scholarship and get drafted into the NCAA."

"Well, I mean you're good in sports but everyone has a right to what they want to do or what they feel passionate about. I'm glad that you're doing what you want to do and not what everyone else is telling you to do." She said.

I was blown away. She amazed me more and more each day. I smiled back and looked into the depths of her eyes. She was truly unique and genuine.

The waitress came setting down our food, which interrupted our gaze. We started talking again and I could tell we were more comfortable around each other now. It felt like it was just the two of us in our own world.

I was surprised that I had so much in common with her. We had similar interests aside from sports, which she knew nothing about but we liked the same movies, music and books.

I saw her look down at her watch and I looked down at mine. Three hours had passed. I couldn't believe that the time flew by so quickly. The entire restaurant was empty and they were starting to clean up.

I paid the bill swatting Bella's hand away. I would never let a girl pay. My parents always taught me to be a gentleman.

_So was this a date?_

I'd like to think so but I knew she probably thought it wasn't. She thanked me about a hundred times as we made our way out of the restaurant. She must not like people paying for her.

It was cold outside and I thought I saw her shiver so I decided to offer her my jacket. I never let anyone wear my jacket. Sure, annoying fan girls came up to me and asked me to wear it but my response was always no. No matter how cold it was outside.

There was just something about it that felt territorial. I wasn't sure what the appeal was but I only wanted one person to wear it and she was standing right next to me.

I took it off and handed it to her. "Here put this on."

She stopped walking and stared at it. I wasn't sure what she was thinking. Was she shocked? Was she surprised? Or was she repulsed by it?

"Um, that's your letterman jacket and no, you'll freeze." She said pushing my arm back to me.

I knew she would fight me on it. Her stubborn side was showing.

I pushed my arm back toward her and said firmly. "It's just a jacket and you're cold. I'm fine. Stop being stubborn and please put it on."

She hesitated for a bit and I didn't know why. Definitely not a reaction I was expecting. I thought she would be excited like most girls. But she wasn't like any other girl. She was different and that was what I liked about her.

"Okay fine." She said as she grabbed the jacket from my hand and put it on. It was big on her but she looked amazing in it. I would be willing to give it to her if she asked me for it.

It was silent now as we walked back to the dorms but it was a comfortable silence. I snuck glances at her from time to time and saw her looking at me as well.

The thought of asking her on a date came creeping back into my mind. Should I do it now? Now seemed like a good time but then the image of Jack appeared in my mind and I knew that it still wasn't the right time.

We got to the front of the doorstep to her dorm and she started to shrug off the jacket. I put my arms out to stop her.

"No, keep it. You can give it back to me tomorrow at our study session." I said.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Positive." I smiled at her. "It looks good on you." I couldn't help myself. I had to say it. She really did look good with my letters displayed across her back. It was a symbol for telling everyone that she was mine even though sadly, she wasn't.

"I had a good time tonight, Bella. I'll see you tomorrow." I said struggling with the thought of leaving her.

I wanted to do something but wasn't sure what to do. I didn't just want to walk off and wave good-bye. So I decided to take a leap and go for it.

I pulled her tiny frame into a hug, wrapping my arms around her neck and pulling her face to my chest. It was a friendly hug since I wasn't sure if I should give her a more than friendly hug. I didn't want to scare her off.

I could smell the strong scent of her shampoo and feel the warmth of her body pressed against mine and felt like I was in heaven.

I stepped away and saw that her eyes were glazed over. She must've been dreaming again.

Who was she dreaming about? Was it the same guy that she was hoping was her biology partner? I could feel a tightening in my stomach as the annoying questions that I had re-surfaced.

"Bella, Bella?" I asked.

She snapped out of her daze and looked at us.

"Sorry! I was out of it again." She blushed red.

I laughed and looked down at her. I looked into forever as I stared at the deep brown chocolate orbs.

"Thanks for saving me from the evil clutches of Alice and Rose. I had a great time too." She said.

I was staring at her pink pouty lips now and felt a strong urge to kiss her.

"Good night, Bella! Sweet dreams." I said as I started walking away from her. I knew I had to go or I would do something that would probably scare her away.

She waved bye to me and said softly. "Bye, Edward."

I got back to my dorm fairly quickly. Damn it. Did I skip back here? God, I'm turning into such a girl. I knew I was on a high.

Just then my phone rang, I looked at the caller ID and picked it up. "Hi Mom."

"How's my Edward?"

Well, at least she didn't say "How's my baby?" I had a talk to her about that when I went to high school. I told her that the baby nickname had to go.

"Good. Everything is good." I answered sounding more enthusiastic than usual. Hopefully she didn't pick up on it.

"Wow, what happened? You sound really excited."

"It's nothing, mom." I said changing the tone of my voice. I really did not want to talk to my mom about the dinner that I just had with Bella.

"Well, I'm glad that you're not sulking anymore. Alice called and told me what happened. Are you okay?"

_Damn it, Alice! Her and her big mouth!_

"I'm fine, Mom."

"You know, Edward. Alice is right. You should really listen to her."

"Mom." I groaned.

"What? I'm just telling you the truth. Anyways, I remember seeing Bella that first day you moved in and if after three years she looks the same and probably even more stunning now you need to step up your … what did Alice call it? Your game."

I laughed. I did not need to talk to my mom about my game.

"Okay, mom. That's enough of the Bella talk. Can we talk about something else?"

That distracted her so she started talking to me about Alice and Jasper. And then asked me about classes and football.

After we hung up, my phone started to ring again.

"Hey, Alice."

"OH MY GOD! I can't believe you let Bella wear your jacket! You are definitely learning and learning very well. And dinner too! I was so surprised. That was good! And the hug you gave Bella!! How did you get so smart?! Oh yeah, from moi!! Aren't you lucky to have such a smart sister?" She giggled.

"I'm so proud of you!" She squealed loudly into the phone.

I was about to comment on what she said but I caught myself. Did she see us?

"Wait. How did you know about the jacket and the hug? Were you spying on us? Alice!" I hissed sitting up on my bed.

"Chillax, Ed-ward! Rose and I saw you two from the window. It was so cute! We were waiting for her to come back from your dinner and we heard you two outside. I can't believe both of you were gone for so long. And Edward you should've seen her face when she came back into the room. She was so happy. I'm so excited for you."

I could feel my heart racing as Alice told me that Bella was happy.

"And she definitely did not agree to go with Jack on a date. Rose said yes for her. And from the looks of things, she's really not looking forward to it. She was complaining most of the time. So you need to ask her soon."

I pumped my fist in the air. YES! Bella didn't want to go out with Jack. And she didn't say yes to him. I didn't know if I was more excited at this news or the fact that she was happy after our dinner.

"Edward, I really like her and Rose. They are really great friends. You did good, big brother. So how was dinner?" She asked.

I sighed. "It was perfect."

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**A/N: What did you think? So we have Happy Edward again! Yay! **

**Did you like the Jasper and Edward talk? I had to throw that in.**

**And the call with Esme?! Hahaha ... I know she sounds slightly OOC but I wanted her to be this way. **

**Next Chapter ... Bella Gets Sick! Oh NO! I'm sure you all want to know what was going on in Edward's mind during that week. **

**I'll be off for a week traveling again so I won't be able to update for awhile but if I get to a chapter today or tomorrow I might be able to post by Thursday before I leave. We'll see!!! **

**Please Review and Thanks for Reading! **


	9. I'll Be

**A/N: I can't believe that this story has already surpassed 200 reviews! I am blown away! Thanks so much for the reviews and alerts and I'm so glad you are enjoying the EPOV side of things.**

**I'm back from traveling. Sorry for the late update! I probably won't be able to update this again for another week or more because I'm in the process of moving and the BPOV side of the story won't be updated for awhile. I've just been too busy and I want to catch up with this story before updating RCP. Hope you understand!  
**

**Thanks again to my beta, Savage Woman, who has helped with some great suggestions for this story and changed some of my grammar and wording. I truly appreciate the support and help! Check out her stories if you get a chance! She's an amazing writer! **

**Now what did Edward think about Bella and Jack's date? And what about the Team Beck and Team Edella competition? And what was going on his mind when Bella passed out? Read on below to find out!**

**You must read Ridge Crest Prep first in order to read this story or it won't make any sense.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Twilight or Ally McBeal. I do own the storyline and any characters that I make up.**

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**Chapter 9 – I'll Be**

Song – I'll Be by Edwin McCain

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"Alice, calm down. Talk slower. What happened?" I said into the phone.

I could hear her taking a few deep breaths. _"I just got back from my dinner date with Jasper!"_ she squealed.

Jasper and Alice had been talking on the phone every day this week. She nearly passed out when he finally got the guts to ask her out to dinner. Not that I'm making fun of him because I wasn't even close to asking Bella out.

"So how was it?" I asked.

"_Edward, it was the best date ever. This week has been amazing. We get along so well and he just gets me. I know I can be crazy and hyper sometimes but he doesn't seem to mind at all,"_ she sighed dreamily.

Sometimes? She was hyper and crazy all the time. I was glad that Jasper wasn't fazed by her rambunctious personality. I knew she annoyed me at times but she's my sister. Sisters were supposed to be annoying.

"I'm good with that update. No need to hear about the specifics. Are you guys going to go out again?" I asked.

"_Yeah, we made plans again for this weekend and we're going to start studying together. Isn't that great?"_ she chimed.

"Yeah, great," I replied.

I was happy for her. At least one of us was making progress. I just couldn't help but be bothered by the fact that Jack was taking Bella out this weekend and not me.

"_What's wrong, Ed-ward?"_ she taunted emphasizing my name.

"Tomorrow will be a shitty day," I sighed.

"_You don't even know what's going to happen on their date. And I already told you she's not looking forward to it. How about I give you a full report when she gets back?"_ she offered.

"Alice, I already told you not to tell me. What if Bella finds out that you're relaying all this information to me? Wouldn't she be mad? You're supposed to be her friend and not a spy," I said.

"_You're right but if Bella ever asks me to keep a secret for her, I will. I'm not CNN. Give me some credit. And I only tell you things to help you. It's not like I'm telling you her secrets," _she said.

I knew that but I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the outcome of the date. Bella could easily end up liking Jack and they could be a couple by Monday for all I knew.

I realized that I liked Bella more and more with each passing day, if that was even possible. We spent most of our Thursday at our study session talking rather than studying but I didn't care. It helped me get to know her more. And I walked her to class every day, which allowed me to spend more time with her.

However, when lunch came, it was like playing musical chairs every day to fight for the spot to sit next to Bella. Some days Jack would get there first before me and on other days I would beat him to it. And whenever we saw each other at the table we avoided it like the plague.

Jack knew that I was interested in her. I think he figured it out when I stopped talking to him after he asked Bella out. I was mad but I couldn't be mad at him. He didn't know my feelings for Bella. If anything, the competitive side of me took over. If he wanted a fight, I'd give him a fight. I was not giving up.

After I hung up the phone with Alice, I sat on my bed thinking. All I could think about was Bella. She consumed my every thought. I knew I had to be bolder and that I had to put myself out there. It was time for me to step up and take charge.

* * *

There were six of us crammed in Scott and Jack's room watching the _San Diego Chargers_ vs. _Dallas Cowboys_ game on TV.

Emmett was watching the TV screen intently. Mark was on the computer playing _World of Warcraft_. Scott was passed out on his bed sleeping. The guy slept like a log. No one was ever able to wake him up while he was sleeping, not even a foghorn, which we tried to use back in sophomore year.

"What are you doing?" I eyed Brian curiously. He was looking through his backpack.

Brian looked up at me and smiled mischievously. He found what he was looking for and held out a small bottle in his hand to show me what it was. Then he placed a finger to his mouth to quiet us down as he tiptoed over to Scott.

Whatever Brian had in mind was not good. I would never mess with Scott. He was just as big as Emmett, if not bigger. I was sure he could crush my skull if I ever got him pissed off.

I shook my head at him and went back to watching the TV screen.

"So are we all set for the initiation night on Wednesday?" Steve asked Emmett.

"Yep. We're meeting at my room at midnight. Those freshies will never know what hit them," Emmett replied with an evil grin while rubbing his hands together.

We always had initiation nights for incoming freshmen on all sports teams. This year we had about fifteen new guys on the junior varsity football team that we had to torture and Wednesday night was the official night.

"So do you guys think Bella's into Jack?" Mark asked. Emmett raised an eyebrow listening in on the conversation while keeping his eyes focused on the TV screen. Anytime someone even mentioned Bella's name he was always listening.

"Nah. I don't think so," Brian answered. He didn't bother lowering his voice because we all knew that Scott wouldn't wake up either way.

"But he's Jack Taylor. He can pretty much get any girl he wants just like Edward here," Mark said while nodding his head in my direction but keeping his eyes glued to the computer screen. I could see him frantically pushing buttons and moving the mouse.

I scowled at him. The guys knew that I hated when people said that kind of stuff about me but they never stopped bringing it up.

I would never admit that Jack was popular with the ladies but it was true. Jack had a fairly large fan club as well as a line of interested girls waiting to have a chance with him. But if I had to compare, I knew that my fan club was larger although mine did tend include psychos and stalkers. And Jack did seem to have a way with the ladies …

However, if I was being really honest, I knew the affect I sometimes had on the fairer sex as well. What a pair we made – both going after the same girl who was apparently the only one in the school impervious to our 'powers.' I just hoped tonight wasn't the night she decided to be effected.

"So? That doesn't mean anything. Fifty bucks on Bella and Jack not happening," Steve jumped in. I knew he was trying to alleviate the situation because I didn't want to hear about Bella and Jack.

"I'm in too. I don't think Jack has a chance," Emmett added throwing his money into the pile.

"That isn't fair. You're her brother. You probably know what she's already thinking," Brian argued.

"I don't. I don't talk about guys with her. She doesn't tell me anything. So it's fair game," Emmett countered turning his attention back to the TV.

"Fine, I'm in for Jack. I think he has a chance," Mark said throwing his money into the pile while still keeping his attention on the computer screen.

"Me too," Brian said finishing up what he was doing to Scott and putting the small bottle back into this bag. I don't even want to know how he got that bottle and why he even had it with him.

"What about you Edward?" Mark asked.

I hated when they made bets but I specifically hated it when it involved Bella.

"I'm out on this one," I replied crossing my arms and keeping my eyes on the TV screen. Hopefully they would get the clue to leave me alone. I didn't want to talk about it.

"Suit yourself," Mark retorted. He finally took his attention away from the computer and started counting the money.

The rest of the game went on as the time passed. Then Scott started to roll around in his bed, which was a sign that he was getting up. We all remained quiet as he started to rub his eyes and sat up in bed.

"Hey, guys," Scott said sleepily while looking around the room.

"Hey," we replied in unison trying to play it off that nothing happened.

"What did I miss?" Scott asked while yawning.

"Nothing much," Steve said while shrugging his shoulders trying hard to suppress his laughter. I didn't dare look at Scott or my face would give it away. Mark was too busy focused on the computer again just as Emmett's face was glued to the TV screen.

"Well, you did miss out on a bet for Bella and Jack. Do you think Bella's into Jack?" Brian asked. I knew he was taunting him.

"Nah, he doesn't stand a chance," Scott said. "Let me get my money."

Just as he reached for his covers to pull them over he started screaming and jumped out of the bed.

"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!" Scott yelled.

All of us burst into laughter. He started scratching at his fingernails.

"DAMN IT! Who did this?!" Scott yelled while frantically trying to scratch off the white nail polish that was all over his fingernails.

Brian laughed harder. "Dude, don't sleep next time when you have us in your room. You were asking for it!"

"You're so going to get it! How the hell am I supposed to get this shit off?" Scott shouted.

"You're going to have to ask a girl for help with that!" Brian said while running out of the room with Scott chasing after him.

"I don't even want to know how he had the white nail polish bottle to begin with," Steve said. Emmett and I shook our heads in agreement while laughing.

We continued watching the game. After an hour, Scott came back with nail polish remover. He asked Annie to help him out. Brian showed up soon after coming out from his hiding place. He was lucky Scott didn't kill him.

It was getting closer to midnight now. I knew that Jack would be back soon so I decided to go back to my room. I did not want to see the bright smile on his face coming back from his date or I would be compelled to throw him out the window.

I said bye to the guys and walked back to my room. As I walked through the hallway, I heard a chorus of cheers.

"Hey man, how was the date?" Mark asked. Guess Jack just got back.

I slipped into my room and closed the door. I definitely did not need to hear the answer to that question.

* * *

I went through the same routine that I did every Monday morning. I was hoping I wouldn't read Tanya's column today as it was starting to become a habit that I didn't want.

I flipped it open and saw a large article that was focused on Jack, Bella and me.

What was going on?!

_**Team Beck or Team Edella?**_ – _Bella Swan spotted with Jack Taylor and Edward Cullen. Who will she choose or more importantly which team are you on? Looks like a battle is brewing …_

There were pictures of Bella and me at dinner on Wednesday and of her wearing my jacket. There were also pictures of us hugging. I wasn't surprised at that. I knew it would make Tanya's column.

The part that I was mainly interested in was seeing the pictures of Bella's date with Jack. She looked stunning in her black dress that she was wearing. I knew Alice was adamant about playing Bella Barbie that day. Not that she had to. Bella was always beautiful.

I examined the pictures carefully. She didn't seem interested by her body language in the photos but I still wasn't sure. The one picture that really got me upset was the one where Jack was hugging her and kissing her on the cheek.

I wanted to punch a wall. I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a few deep breaths. I had to calm myself down.

Alice told me yesterday that Bella only wanted to be friends with Jack. That made me happy but seeing the photos of their date and the interaction between them made me angry.

_Get a grip, Edward!_

I grabbed my bag and headed out to class. I knew I was in a bad mood and did not want to talk to anyone. As I stalked to class, I could see girls whispering and pointing at me. Then Lauren came into view. She was yelling at her group of followers and then turned to face me.

She placed her hands on her hips and yelled. "Eddie!"

I saw her group of followers looking relieved that she turned her attention away from them but I didn't want her attention focused on me. I kept walking and ignored her. I did not want to deal with her right now. Then I heard her running up next to me.

"Eddie, I saw Tanya's paper today. You have some explaining to do," she said.

What?!

I stopped walking and turned to her. "What are you talking about?" I yelled. I was not in a good mood and she was pushing my damn buttons.

"What's this stuff I hear about you and Bella Swan?" she asked while batting her eyelashes at me.

Ugh! She always did that and it freaked me out.

"It's none of your business," I sneered and started walking again.

"But I thought we had something," she whined.

"LAUREN, get it through your thick skull that we have never been and never will be!" I roared.

"But Eddie!" She stomped her foot throwing a tantrum.

I walked away ignoring her. I got to my first period class and slammed my things down. Today was going to be a bad day.

* * *

"Edward! You've been holding out on us!" Scott said slapping his hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, why didn't you tell us on Saturday?" Mark asked.

"Is that why you didn't make a bet? Because Team Edella was in the running?" Brian teased.

"Shut it, guys. Nothing is going on. We just had dinner," I replied shrugging them off.

"Sure, man. Whatever you say," Mark said.

"Hey guys, come quick!" Steve yelled as we grabbed our food and walked over to where he was. Emmett, Jasper, Garrett and Jack were standing to the side watching Lauren Mallory yelling at Bella and Rose.

This didn't look good.

Bella stood up and slammed her small fists against the table. She glared at Lauren and yelled, "Listen, Malibu Barbie! Don't ever call Alice shorty ever again! And leave Rose alone! My life is none of your business. Now if you could leave, we would like to eat our lunch in peace and not have it ruined by you."

I've never seen Bella this angry before. She was pissed.

"Oh, you made it my business when you waltzed in here, thinking you could take what's mine! Don't forget that you're only where you are right now because of your brother and the female Hale!" Lauren sneered.

I was about to lunge toward Lauren as Steve grabbed onto me holding me back. I hated what she was doing to Bella.

"Aw, little Bella Swan actually thought she had real friends and that guys were actually interested in her. You should go and crawl back into whatever hole you came from!" Lauren mocked. I could feel the rage coursing through my veins. I would've ripped her head off right there.

Just then Rose was about to lunge toward her while Bella grabbed her to hold her back.

"Stop it, Lauren!" Jenny yelled.

"Don't start with me Jenny or I'll give you hell to pay during cheer practice," Lauren scolded.

"I'm watching you Swan. You better watch your back. All of you!" Lauren hissed.

Steve let go of me as I re-adjusted my jacket. I crossed my arms and was glaring at Lauren. Everyone else standing by me was doing the same.

"What are you doing, Mallory?" Emmett yelled.

Lauren and her followers jumped and cowered back looking surprised.

"Nothing," Lauren answered pretending to act innocent.

"Don't lie, Lauren. We saw the whole thing," I said through my clenched jaw.

"But I'm not lying, Eddie!" She purred trying to sound seductive while placing her hand on my arm.

I swatted her arm away and hissed, "Don't call me Eddie! And leave all of us alone!" Lauren recoiled back.

"Stay away from my sister, my girlfriend and their friends!" Emmett snapped.

"Emmy, I didn't do anything," Lauren said.

Just then Bella and Alice grabbed onto Rose. She was livid.

"MALLORY! DON'T EVER CALL HIM EMMY EVER AGAIN! YOU ARE ASKING FOR IT!" Rose yelled at the top of her lungs. Definitely not a good idea to get on Rose's bad side.

"Whatever, bitch. Bring it on!" Lauren said.

"Oh, we will. You better watch your back!" Rose screamed.

Lauren and her friends left causing the entire food court to erupt into claps and cheers. I saw Alice throwing her arms around Bella.

I knew Alice was glad that Bella stood up for her. While growing up, I was always the one protecting Alice because she was smaller than most kids. It was good to see that she had a close friend that was willing to protect her.

I watched Bella and noticed that she looked paler than normal. I probably would've noticed it this morning in third period if I wasn't so upset.

Was she sick? Was she okay?

I would kill Lauren if she did something to Bella. I watched as Alice asked her a question looking concerned. Something wasn't right.

I continued to watch Bella to make sure she was okay. I could see her trying to take deep breaths while grabbing her book bag. She clutched her chest heaving, when she looked up her eyes locked with mine, and I could see that something was wrong. Very wrong.

I ran toward her as I saw her eyes roll back into her head and close. Her body was falling to the floor.

"BELLA!" Rose screamed.

Alice and Jenny screamed as I caught Bella in my arms before she hit the floor.

"OH MY GOD! What happened?" Jenny screamed.

"What's going on?" Emmett ran over to us with the rest of the guys following behind him.

"I don't know," I answered.

"She was talking and saying that she felt sick. She was going to go back to dorms and sleep," Alice said frantically.

"Bella?" I called out to her. She felt so small and limp in my arms. I shook her a little but there was no response.

"Bella?" Jasper called out.

"Is she breathing?" Rose asked.

Jenny put her hand under her nose. "Yes."

"We need to take her to the medical center," I shouted.

"Let's go," Alice yelled grabbing Bella's things. I walked toward the food court doors as fast as I could.

The entire group started following us before Emmett turned around and said, "Thanks guys, but I think we can take Bella there. We'll let you know what happens."

"Make sure to call me," Jenny said with concern.

"I will. Thanks Jenny," Emmett said as we rushed out of the food court.

Everyone was staring at us but I didn't care. I had to get Bella to the medical center as soon as possible.

"Here Edward, let me take her," Emmett said reaching out for her.

I held on tighter to her and moved out of his way. Someone would have to pry her out of my arms.

"No, I'm taking her. Let's hurry," I said.

"Is she going to be okay?" Alice asked on the verge of tears.

"I hope so," Rose replied.

I could feel Bella moving slightly in my arms.

"Bella, Bella," I called out to her. She has to wake up.

_Please wake up!_

I felt goose bumps on Bella's arms and felt her starting to shiver. She buried her face against my chest. If she wasn't sick, I would've enjoyed this moment. Instead, I was on the verge of losing my sanity.

"Alice, put my jacket over Bella," I ordered. Alice threw my blazer over Bella wrapping it around her.

"Bella, please wake up," I pleaded.

She turned to face up and slowly fluttered her eyes open. I looked into the brown of her eyes and felt a wave of relief.

Then I felt her body tense up as she shut her eyes quickly. After a few seconds, she slowly opened them back up one by one. I would've laughed but I was too concerned about her well-being.

She was sick. I could tell by the look on her face. As we made our way into the center, the nurse directed me to a room as I set Bella down on the bed. I didn't want to let go but I knew the doctors had to perform tests on her.

I could tell she was scared. She obviously didn't like doctors or nurses. I wanted to stay in the room with her but the nurses were pushing us out.

"We'll be right outside," Jasper said placing his hand on her shoulder.

I couldn't say anything to her. I was so worried.

I followed everyone outside to the lobby and started pacing back and forth.

"Calm down, Edward. She'll be fine," Emmett said.

"How do you know that? She passed out! I think we should call my dad," I said reaching into my pocket to grab my phone.

Alice came over and stopped me. "She'll be fine, Edward. Don't worry about it. Just sit down and relax."

I plopped myself down in one of the waiting room chairs. After we waited for about thirty minutes, a doctor finally came out.

"Emmett Swan?" he called out.

Emmett stood up and walked over to the doctor as the rest of us crowded around him.

"I'm sorry but I can only discuss her case with family only," the doctor said.

Screw the family only policy! I had to know if Bella was okay.

Emmett turned and looked at us. "Can you give us a minute guys?"

We all nodded and walked back into the lobby. After a few more minutes, Emmett came out to meet us.

"What's wrong with her? Is she okay?" I asked.

"Is Bella going to be okay?" Rose asked.

"She's fine," Emmett answered.

"The doctor said that she was coming down with the flu. And she had a panic attack, which caused her system to shut down. She just needs to rest. She's sleeping now. I think we should all get back to class and come back later to see her when she's awake. They want to keep her overnight to monitor her," Emmett said.

I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. She was fine. She was just sick. Either way I wanted to stay with her. I wasn't going back to class.

"I'm going to stay here with her," I said.

"But she'll be sleeping," Alice said.

"I don't care. I want to be here when she wakes up," I said firmly.

They started walking out of the medical center as I grabbed my things and headed toward Bella's room.

"Hold it, Mr. Cullen, but only family is allowed to see her right now," a nurse said stopping me in the hallway. She was an older woman who looked like she could be my grandmother.

I've never even seen this nurse before but she knew my name. I wasn't surprised. She probably read the school newspaper. I read her nametag and said, "Please Nurse Robertson, I just want to make sure that she's okay." I gave her a smile that I knew always worked with my fan club.

I could see her weakening. "Mr. Cullen, family only," she said firmly.

I had to come up with an excuse. "She's my girlfriend. Doesn't that count?" I went out on a limb. Hopefully, it would work.

"Oh my, so Team Edella really did beat out Team Beck. Wait till I tell the other nurses," she said mumbling to herself.

I almost laughed out loud. Even the nurses kept up with our school gossip. This was insane.

"Fine then. Go ahead but don't tell anyone I let you stay," she winked and walked past me.

I walked into Bella's room and saw her sleeping. I sat down in the empty chair next to her bed and watched her. Her long brown hair was slightly covering her face so I gently placed it behind her ear.

She shifted slightly and I was afraid I woke her up but she kept her eyes closed. After a few minutes, I was debating if I should study. Then I heard Bella call out my name.

I looked up at her sleeping form. She wasn't awake. Does she talk in her sleep? Was I imagining it?

Then I heard my name louder and clearer this time. "Edward," she said.

My heart raced knowing that she was dreaming about me. I continued to watch her sleep until eventually I fell asleep too.

* * *

"She's awake!" I heard loud squealing from Rose and Alice and loud coughing coming from Bella. It caused me to jump up from the chair I was sitting in. I stretched out my arms and legs staring at Bella as I rubbed my eyes. She still looked sick but I was glad that she was awake now.

It was dark outside. I glanced at my watch and saw that it was past 7:30 p.m. I missed football practice but I didn't care. Emmett probably made up some excuse for me to the coach.

Bella asked about what happened as we filled her in. Then Jasper and Emmett came into the room. Emmett hounded her about being too stressed out. I would've done the same but I knew I didn't have a right to.

It was funny watching their brother-sister bickering as well as Bella and Jasper's best friend relationship. She seemed to rely on him a lot and he seemed to care a lot about her.

I felt a pang of jealousy again. Can a guy and a girl be best friends without having feelings for each other? It baffled me.

"Fine. Now would you mind telling me what else has been stressing you out? It's not because of what Lauren Mallory said is it?" Emmett asked her.

Everyone looked at her as she sunk back into the bed. I clenched my fists. I hated Lauren more than I have ever hated anyone at this moment.

"No, it's not that," she said softly.

She was lying. She was horrible at lying.

"You're lying," Emmett said at the same time everyone else including me yelled, "She's lying!"

She pouted and crossed her arms against her chest and huffed. She was so cute. She asked to speak to Emmett alone as we walked out of the room. This couldn't be good. And I knew what Lauren said really affected her.

I gave Bella a worried look but she threw me a reassuring smile as I closed the door. I made my way back to the lobby and sat down in an empty chair. Rose and Alice were sitting in the corner of the lobby whispering to each other.

"She'll be okay," Jasper said sitting down next to me. He gave me a calculating look and then said, "You really care about her, don't you?"

I nodded my head.

He gave me a pat on the back and said, "I'm glad." It felt like he was subtly giving me some type of approval.

I sighed. "You don't think what Lauren said really affected her, do you?"

"Knowing Bells, maybe, but she's always unpredictable. So you never know," he said.

After ten minutes, Emmett came out of the room and walked into the lobby.

"Let's grab dinner," Rose said getting up from her chair and pulling Emmett to follow her.

"Edward, why don't you stay with Bella and we can pick up food for you both," Alice said smiling at me while grabbing onto Jasper. I silently thanked her.

"Sure. Make sure to get Bella some soup. See you guys," I said while walking back to the room.

I walked into the room and sat down at the edge of her bed. She looked so fragile like she could break at any moment. I gave her a soft smile.

"Edward, where is everyone else?" She asked looking toward the door.

"They decided to grab dinner. I told them to get you some soup," I said.

"What about you? You need to eat too," she said sounding concerned. Here I was worried sick about her and she's getting concerned because I wouldn't have food.

"They are getting food for me. Are you feeling okay?" I asked looking at her.

"Well, other than the fact that I sound like a frog trying to talk and that I'm super tired and weak. I'm fine," she laughed softly while giving me a weak smile.

"You didn't have to skip your classes and football practice to stay with me today," she chastised lightly.

What do I say? You had me worried sick and I couldn't leave you here alone. And by the way I've liked you for the past three years now and I'm completely infatuated with you. Yeah, that would go over well.

I ended up saying the easiest thing I could come up with. "I was worried about my friend and lab partner. It was necessary," I quipped casually.

I thought I saw her face fall, but why?

"Don't let Lauren get to you. She's not worth anyone's time," I added.

"Don't worry. I won't let her get to me again," she said. Her hand was within reach so I decided to go for it. I placed my hand softly over hers and felt a tingle of electricity.

I was still worried about her and I knew she was playing it off that it didn't affect her. She was trying to show everyone that she was strong.

"Bella, are you sure you are okay? I know you are upset," I said.

"Edward, I'm fine. Really. Thank you for being so concerned but I really don't want you to worry. I should also thank you for catching me when I passed out," she said giving me a smile.

_How did she know I caught her?_

"Emmett told me what happened," she replied as her cheeks flushed pink. She looked away toward the floor embarrassed by her blushing. I reached over and pushed her chin up with my hand.

"Don't look away. I like it when you blush," I said truthfully.

I reached up about to push a strand of her hair behind her ear when the door flew open causing us both to jump.

"Dinner's here!" Alice chirped.

_Great timing, pixie!_

She skipped into the room and placed the to-go bags filled with food on the table.

"I have to go. Jazzy's waiting for me!" She said bouncing up and down rushing out of the room.

"See you two." She grinned widely to the both of us as she closed the door.

"Jazzy, huh?" Bella looked at me and laughed. "Well, it looks like those two have gotten closer."

I handed her the cup of soup as I took out my sandwich from the brown bag. I decided to ask her about her friendship with Jasper.

"Are you okay with that?" I asked looking through the to-go bag avoiding her eyes. If she wasn't, I didn't want to look her in the eyes. It would confirm my worst fear.

"What do you mean?" she asked sounding confused.

I shrugged my shoulders. "You two seem close."

"We are close. Jasper's my best friend. He's like an older brother to me even though we're the same age. He always has been. Our parents are good friends and so we grew up together. Emmett, Rose, Jasper and I were always close but during junior high when Rose and Emmett started hanging out together more it forced Jasper and I to be together more often. So we grew closer and then we ended up going to RCP together and our bond just grew stronger." She smiled fondly at the memories.

It sounded like she only thought of him as brother and that there never were feelings involved.

"So you two never …" I trailed off. I couldn't bring myself to say it, but I knew I had to get the words out. I needed an answer.

"You two never had feelings for each other? Because you know … uh … um … they say that a guy and girl can't be best friends without feelings," I said nonchalantly trying to play it off as I ran a hand through my hair.

"No, not at all. EW! That's just gross!" she said cringing.

Those words made my day. I smiled at her. Probably the biggest smile I could ever give someone.

We chatted the rest of the night or more I talked most of the night because I didn't want her straining her voice.

I talked mainly about my family and told her about my parents and that Alice wasn't my sister. I explained that Alice was actually my cousin but I had come to think of her as my sister after all these years. I also shared stories of Alice and me growing up together.

Bella seemed fascinated the entire time. She was truly interested in everything that I said. I don't think I've ever talked this much to a girl before aside from Alice.

I felt free, like I could be myself around her and not be judged. As I talked I could see a sparkle in her eyes. She seemed happy to be around me.

I heard a knock on the door as a different nurse popped her head into the room.

"I'm sorry Edward but visiting hours are over now. She should be released tomorrow around noon. You can come back then," she said as she left to make her rounds.

I slowly started cleaning up the food and threw away the brown bags. I didn't want to leave and was trying to prolong the time that I had to say goodnight. I put on my blazer and grabbed my book bag.

"Well, I'm going to come back and get you tomorrow at noon," I said as I sat down on the bed again but this time I sat closer to her.

She shook her head. "No, Edward. You don't need to do that. I'm sure Emmett or Jasper or Rose will come and get me."

"I want to come, Bella," I said firmly. I knew she would argue with me about it.

"No, I don't want to get you sick even though you've been around me all day already. I'll feel bad that I got you sick," she mumbled.

I was silently thanking my mom for forcing me to get my flu shot before school started.

"I got the flu shot a few weeks ago. I'll be fine," I said.

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow then," Bella said giving in.

"Good Night Bella," I said. I leaned in toward her and saw her tense up. Then I looked at her eyes and they were glazed over again. Wow, she really must not be feeling well.

I grabbed onto her shoulders and shook her a little.

"Bella, Bella?" I asked with concern. She shook her head snapping herself out of her dream.

"Are you feeling okay? You looked a little zoned out," I said.

She looked down at her arms and took a deep breath.

"I'm fine. Sorry about that," she said sounding embarrassed.

Wait. Why was she embarrassed? Was she daydreaming again?

Her face was flushed bright red as she looked down at her hands in her lap. That tall-tale blush gave her away. I wondered who she could be dreaming about this time. I ruled out Jasper now that I was certain she only saw him as a friend. There was Jack, but she wasn't saying Jack's name in her sleep a few hours ago. She said my name. Could it be?

I pushed her chin up so she could look at me.

_Be bold, Edward!_

I leaned in toward her. She stayed completely still as I kissed her gently on the forehead. I gave her a smile and hugged her before walking out of the room.

I felt like I was floating on air as I walked back to my room. And I thought today was going to be a bad day but it was far from it.

* * *

**A/N: Aww ... Caring Edward, isn't he the best? I still have to keep Edward in the dark about Jack and Bella. Of course, Alice is telling him that Bella only thinks of Jack as a friend but Edward still has to think there is still competition. He doesn't actually realize that there is no competition until after their first date.**

**And Alice does keep Bella's secret about her crush on Edward so don't expect Alice to spill the beans to Edward. He'll have find out everything on his own.**

**And Edward is confused about the Jasper & Bella friendship. He doesn't get it because he's never really been close to any girls on a friendship level. The only girl he confides into is Alice.**

**And the nail polish prank was something my husband and his dorm friends did to one of their roommates that was passed out. It was hilarious! I hope you thought it was funny. I'll try to add more funny things here and there. **

**Next Chapter ... Peeping Edward and Initiation Night (I might also include the fight with Jacob depending on how the chapter lies out)! I was going to put Peeping Edward in this chapter but it got too long so I'm saving it for the next chapter.**

**Please Review and Thanks for Reading!**


	10. You and Me

**A/N: Thanks again for all the alerts and reviews! You guys are the best!!**

**I am SO SORRY for the late update. I was busy moving! And now I'm back in the US! Home Sweet Home! Summer is the worst timing for me in terms of work so I will be busy and may not be updating as much as I would like. I will try my hardest to update as much as I can! **

**Thanks to SavageWoman for helping me with this story and correcting all the hundreds of mistakes that I made. I know was I writing this furiously while packing at the same time so sorry for all the craziness! And thanks for helping me with Pervy Edward. I had a hard time trying to write the inner dirty thoughts of a hormonal teenage boy! So for all dirty gutter thoughts that Edward has in this chapter, it's all thanks to SavageWoman! **

**So here we go ... onto Peeping Edward! There is also an additional part in here that I included that is not from the original BPOV story. I might make a one-shot but I'm still thinking about it.  
**

**You must read Ridge Crest Prep first in order to read this story or it won't make any sense.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Twilight or Ally McBeal. I do own the storyline and any characters that I make up.**

**

* * *

****Chapter 10 – You and Me**

Song – You and Me by Lifehouse

* * *

I was supposed to pick up Bella today at noon from the medical center. So I got up early and went to the pharmacy to pick up a few things that I thought would help her cope with the flu.

Luckily, Rose was in their room before school started so I dropped off the Nyquil, crackers and water that I bought. She threw me a knowing glance and smirked before going into the bathroom to get ready. I took a moment to examine Bella's room. It was the first time that I've stepped in here and her side of the room showed off her interests and personality.

_Maroon 5_ and _Linkin Park_ posters adorned her side of the room. She also had a wide range of books on her bookshelf. Some of them were books we had talked about, but she also had others I'd never heard of. She wasn't messy as things seemed to be kept in place, but I didn't dare look at her closet in the corner. Rose had thrown some things in there and I wasn't convinced I wanted to know what they were.

It was different from Alice's room and a relief to see that there was no pink anywhere. Why Alice decided that pink was her favorite color was beyond me.

I quickly said good-bye to Rose and left the room heading off to class. My morning slowly passed by and as I sat during my ASB meeting, I resorted to counting down the minutes until lunch. When the bell finally rang, I jumped out of my seat and practically ran toward the medical center.

I took one look at Bella and knew she was still extremely weak and sick. I couldn't let her walk back to class. So, I grabbed her bag, threw it over my shoulder and picked her up in my arms even though she protested the entire time. But, she was burning up again and I knew she wasn't any better than she was yesterday.

People were staring and I could feel Bella tense up at the attention we were attracting. I tried my best to talk to her to keep her busy and I think I succeeded as she listened intently to whatever I was saying.

As we got to her room, I set her down and told her to take the medicine I bought for her. She looked surprised and she gave me a big smile causing my chest to swell. I knew then that I couldn't live without that smile.

After leaving Bella's room, I walked toward Biology and thought more about her. She had completely bewitched me and I knew I was intrigued. If she weren't sick, I'd be asking her out on a date right at this moment. Why did the timing have to be so off for the both of us?

**

* * *

**

Once again, the rest of my day continued at an annoyingly slow pace. After trudging through football practice, I quickly grabbed my things and called Alice while I headed for the food court.

"_Hey, Edward," _Alice chimed into the phone.

"Hey, Alice. I was wondering. I know you have to stop by to check on Bella tonight, but do you think that maybe I could go instead? I wanted to get dinner and drop it off to her. Is that okay?" I asked.

"_You are getting good at this, Edward! I didn't even need to tell you what to do. Go ahead. She's all yours. I'm pretty busy with the Homecoming costumes and I'm getting dinner tonight with Jasper. And I can't afford to get sick. I still have to finish all of the costumes,"_ she said.

"You remember our deal about Homecoming, right?" I asked.

"_Yippee, how could I forget?"_ she replied sarcastically. She hated the deal that we made but I was getting desperate and needed a buffer from all the girls asking me to Homecoming on a daily basis. At least I had an excuse now instead of fumbling for words of rejection, which I was horrible at. Alice only agreed to go with me because she heard that Jasper was going with Bella. This bummed her out knowing she couldn't go with him and she was stuck with me.

"Come on, Alice. It can't be all that bad," I said.

"_Yeah, like going to Homecoming with my brother is the best thing to ever happen to me!"_ she mocked with fake enthusiasm.

"You're doing me a huge favor, Alice. And don't forget you owe me because I didn't tell mom and dad about your last purchase. Why did you buy a horse?" I asked.

"_Because she was cute. Anyways, enough talk about me. Pick up dinner and get your butt moving!" _she ordered and then hung up.

I shook my head and threw my phone into my bag. She definitely had strange impulses to buy things. Something no one would ever be able to understand.

I grabbed a hamburger and fries for me and soup for Bella before heading to her dorm. I could see some of the girls in their windows staring at me, probably wondering where I was going. It wasn't until I passed through the front door of the lobby that I heard squeals.

I walked up to the fourth floor and stood outside of Bella's door. There was a group of girls gathered in the hallway staring at me. I ignored them and went back to focusing on why I was here.

What if Bella was still sleeping? I'd hate to wake her up but she needed to eat. I knocked on the door softly and leaned in closer trying to hear if she was moving around. There was dead silence.

I knocked again and after a long pause, I heard her croak out, "Come in."

I opened the door. The room was completely dark and I immediately felt bad for waking her up. I took a few more steps into the room and said, "Bella, how are you feel–?"

I stopped talking as my eyes adjusted to the dark and I saw Bella lying on her bed without a blanket covering her. She was wearing only her underwear and a tank top. Her underwear said "Love Pink" on it in bold letters.

Her body was even better than I had imagined. I spent the last three years fantasizing about this woman and now here she was in front of me and all I could do was stare.

It wasn't until I realized that my mouth was agape that I knew I had to say something, fast. I turned around quickly and mumbled, "I'm so sorry! I didn't know." I could feel my cheeks getting warm.

_Great, you walk in on her and that's all you could say! Idiot!_

But as the image of Bella's current state of dress flashed before my eyes, I felt my body suddenly flush with heat and a stupid grin broke out on my face. All I could think about was pulling her body up against mine and kissing her all over. As my teenage hormones started to kick in, I gulped. Trying to get my brain to think of other things in order to refrain from acting on impulse was harder than I thought knowing Bella was so close.

Luckily, as my mind continued to descend into the gutter, I heard her scream and fall to the floor, breaking me from my fantasies. I almost turned around to help her but I knew she would be embarrassed so I kept my stance. Hell, I was embarrassed. If she knew what I was just thinking, I'd be mortified.

I heard her searching around the room until the lights flipped on.

"Edward, it's okay. I thought you were Alice," she said her voice still husky from sleep.

I kept my back to her, still fighting to get my embarrassment and hormones under control.

"I-I came to check up on y-you and bring you f-food. S-she got caught up working on costumes for Homecoming and couldn't come," I stuttered and ran a hand through my hair trying to calm myself down.

_Smooth. Romeo. Real smooth._

"It's okay, Edward. You can turn around now," Bella said. I slowly turned around trying to avoid looking her in the eye. She would see right through me and know that I saw everything. Then she would call me a pervert and a peeping tom. _Good going, bonehead!_

I went to the kitchenette avoiding her stare and put the bag of food down. She had a blanket wrapped around her and even then she looked adorable with her messy hair. She excused herself to go to the bathroom giving me some time to calm down. I took out the food and placed the soup by her nightstand before I got my hamburger and fries. I sat down at her desk and waited for her. She stepped out of the bathroom in a pair of grey sweatpants.

"How are you feeling?" I asked having collected myself a little.

"I'm still tired and weak. I think the fever has gone down a little. I'm not as hot and sweaty anymore," she said.

I mentally groaned when she mentioned being hot and sweaty. I started to get brief flashes of her in her underwear again slightly distracting me. I started to get hot and bothered.

I shook the thoughts from head and replied, "Well, that's good."

She walked over to her bed and sat down.

"I got all of your assignments for you," I said pulling out her homework from my bag.

"Thanks, Edward. You really didn't have to do that. Emmett or Jasper could've done it for me," she replied.

"We have two classes together so it made sense that I help you. Don't worry about it," I remarked as I handed her the soup. I had offered to help Bella before Emmett and Jasper could say anything. And of course, everyone was afraid of getting sick so they were happy to know that I was ready and willing.

She paused while she took in my outfit before she asked, "Did you just come from football practice?"

"Yeah, so I stopped by on my way back to the dorms and got you dinner," I answered.

So I left out a few details. She didn't need to know everything.

"Thanks again," she said smiling up at me through her eyelashes. I could feel my heart starting to race.

I returned her smile and started eating my hamburger. At times, she would reach out and try to steal my fries. She was so cute, but I had to swat her hand away and remind her that she couldn't eat fried foods when she was sick and had a sore throat. When she pouted, I almost gave in, but I held my ground. This girl will be the death of me.

When we finished dinner, I didn't want to leave. So, I decided to go for it and ask her if she wanted to study or if she wanted to go back to sleep. Luckily, she wanted to study. I knew it was selfish for me to ask her that but I couldn't get enough of her.

We studied for an hour. But when I saw her yawn, sadly, I knew it was time for me to leave. I picked up my things as she walked over to her bed and crawled under the covers. We said goodnight and I kissed her on the forehead again.

_Chicken Shit! _

I wanted to grab her and kiss her but I had to hold myself back. Was I ready to tell her what I was feeling? We just started hanging out and I didn't want to freak out her.

I walked back to my room mulling over my thoughts about my plan to ask Bella out. I'd just have to find the right time. Fortunately, I had all week to think about it. I was glad that everyone was avoiding her because she was sick. It gave me the chance to see her everyday.

I barely noticed my pixie sister running up to me with a white bag in one hand and Jasper in the other.

"Edward!" she called out.

"Hey, Alice, Jasper." I nodded my head in Jasper's direction as they stopped in front of me.

"Here are the black ski masks you asked for," she said handing me the bag. "I don't want to know what you're going to be using them for."

I almost forgot that it was for initiation night tomorrow. Emmett had asked me to talk to Alice about getting a few supplies. "Thanks, Alice. But, I'm sworn to secrecy. Emmett's taking this whole captain business a little more seriously than I thought," I chuckled.

Jasper laughed. "That's Em for you."

"So how was dinner?" Alice winked trying to pry for information.

I didn't want to say too much in front of Jasper so I shrugged my shoulders. "It was fine."

"Alright then, see you, bye!" Alice chirped before she grabbed a hold of Jasper's hand and started running toward the dorms.

_Hm. That was too easy._

I realized the error of that thought as soon as she threw me a look that said she would be calling me later to find out what happened.

I turned around and walked back to my dorms knowing that Alice would yell at me again for not moving faster with Bella. She nearly made me deaf last night when she gave me an earful. I told her that I kissed Bella on the forehead.

--Flashback--

"_God, Edward! You are such a prude! The forehead?!"_ Alice screamed into the phone.

"What?" I didn't think I did anything wrong.

"_You only kiss your mom or your sister on the forehead. Duh! Now she's going to think that you only like her as a friend. You need to step it up. Kiss her on the cheek next time!" _Alice scolded.

"Shut up! You know that this is hard for me. I'm trying to control myself and not scare her," I grumbled.

"_Yeah, but you can do that without kissing her on the forehead. Argh! Tell me you have kissed a girl before because I sure as hell will not be teaching you that," _Alice hissed.

I paused. "Well, there was Evie."

"_WHAT?!"_ Alice shrieked before falling silent on the other line. I thought we got disconnected as I pulled the phone away from my ear. The call was still connected.

"_EVIE?! As in Evelyn Parker? As in the third grade?!" _Alice's voice was shrill.

"Um, yeah," I answered.

"_And?" _Alice stressed.

"Well, that's about it," I mumbled. I did not enjoy revealing my lack of kissing history to my sister.

There was another long pregnant pause before Alice went into a tirade about how she wasn't a damn fairy godmother and that I shouldn't be expecting magic to just happen. I could tell by that statement she was stressed because she was saying things that didn't make any sense. It was then that I realized that she was stressed about Homecoming and with all that was going on, my situation only added to her load. I didn't want Alice to fret because of me so I told her I would handle it, not that it would stop her from butting into my business.

--End of Flashback--

I knew that tonight's phone call would be another lashing. I didn't let it bother me as I walked into my room and fell onto my bed drifting off to sleep thinking about Bella.

**

* * *

**"Black ski masks?" Emmett asked.

"Check," I answered.

"Eggshells?" Emmett asked.

"Check," Brian answered.

"Goldfish?" Emmett asked.

"Check," Scott answered.

"Glass Bottles?" Emmett asked.

"Check," Steve answered.

"Rope?" Emmett asked.

"Check," Jack answered.

Emmett continued reading off the list of things we needed. I'm sure it sounded strange to someone who had no idea what we were up to. We were all dressed in black planning the strategy for the night. I had just finished coming back from Bella's when I met up with the guys.

We handed the juniors and seniors their ski masks before sending them out to grab the sleeping freshmen from their dorms.

"Remember, don't say a word. It will freak them out even more. Meet at this location at 0100 hours. Break!" Emmett ordered. He was using military time and shouting orders like a drill sergeant the entire night.

The juniors and sophomores took off running in different directions as the seniors headed to the North gym. Since, it was the smallest gym that we had, coach allowed us to use it for initiation night.

I remembered having to go through this with all the guys my freshmen year. I'll admit I was scared shitless but it was all good fun.

We prepared the room as the juniors and sophomores returned.

"Sir, we have the freshmen rounded up. They are stripped down to their boxers, blindfolded and hands tied together. They have no idea where they are, Sir. We drove them around in the vans to confuse them," Seth clipped.

Seth was a sophomore at RCP and the captain of the junior varsity football team. We met last year and I liked him right off the bat. He had a good head on his shoulders and I had no doubt that he would be captain of the varsity team one day.

"Good, now start breaking the bottles," Emmett ordered at Jack and Scott who immediately started breaking glass bottles into a trash bin.

"Bring them in!" Emmett's booming voice filled the gym.

Seth and the rest of the guys lead the cowering freshmen into the gym in a straight line. They were shaking and trembling as if they were being lead to their doom. I had to hold back my laughter as I saw the rest of the guys suppressing their laughs as well.

"Remove the blindfolds and ropes!" Emmett shouted. That was the cue for all of us to don our serious faces. All of the seniors stared down at the freshmen with menacingly looks while the juniors removed the freshmen's blindfolds and untied their hands.

_Did I really look that small and scrawny back then?_ I thought as I eyed the group of lanky and thin boys in front of me.

"Now, you were brought here today to experience true teamwork and brotherhood. We work as a team here at Ridge Crest Prep and from that you will gain true brothers. You are new here and all freshmen must go through the same ritual as we have done before you," Emmett stopped talking and then motioned for me to continue.

"You will be given a series of obstacles tonight. Obstacles that will not be easy but will test your will power and your strength. Athletes here at RCP endure pain, sweat and tears. You will need to prove that you can handle this," I said firmly.

"Are you ready for these tests?" Emmett asked. I could see some of the guys gulping and sweating.

"Yes, Sir," the freshmen mumbled.

"I can't hear you! Louder!" Emmett barked.

"YES, SIR!" the freshmen boomed in unison.

"Good, now do you see what Taylor and Harper are doing?" Emmett asked motioning to Scott and Jack who were furiously breaking bottles.

"Yes, Sir!" The frightened freshmen winced at the loud clattering of the breaking glass.

"It's said that there is a tribe of natives living in the Andes Mountains that can walk on broken glass without receiving a scratch. This comes from their courage and strength. Taylor and Harper are breaking the glass bottles in front of you because tonight you will walk through a row of broken glass," Emmett boomed.

"This will test your courage and strength and prove to us that you are willing to face any challenges. You will be blindfolded," I added with a menacing sneer.

As the juniors returned with the blindfolds, the freshmen's eyes practically popped out of their sockets. They were so scared.

Scott and Jack made louder breaking sounds as Brian and Steve went to setup the row of "broken glass". Once they were ready, they gave the thumbs up to Emmett.

"Now, hands on each others shoulders and walk in a straight line. MOVE!!" Emmett shouted as the boys lined up behind each other with their arms stretched out to grab the shoulders of the person in front and walking in a straight line toward the "broken glass". Some of the freshmen's legs were trembling and shaking in fear. As soon as they stepped onto the row of "broken glass" they started screaming.

The sophomores were watching in awe having experienced this the last year. But the secrets of initiation night were never revealed until now as they witnessed it for themselves. Now that they were seeing what really happened without the blindfolds, they were trying hard not to laugh out loud.

"AHHH!" Some of the freshmen had girlish screams.

"Keep walking!" Emmett boomed.

"Stop being pansies!" Scott yelled.

"Sir, I think I'm bleeding. Sir, can you please check my foot?" one of the freshmen pleaded. Everyone slapped their hands over their mouths and some even had to step outside to laugh.

"You're not bleeding so stop being a baby! Take it like a man!" Emmett chastised.

Jack and Scott frantically started breaking the dishes louder as some of the juniors screamed in fake agony to scare the freshmen. It worked as the freshmen shuddered but continued to walk in a straight line.

Once all the freshmen were finished, Emmett shouted, "Stop walking!" The freshmen were whimpering and making hissing sounds at their feet.

"Congratulations! You have now finished the first test. Step back two steps so we clean up for the second test," Emmett ordered. The freshmen quickly stepped back two steps relieved that the task was complete.

Brian swept up all evidence of the eggshells and threw them away outside. Mike and his friends setup the next test as Jack and Scott rolled the trashcan with the real glass and shards outside.

"Sir, I think a piece of glass is stuck in my foot. Sir! It hurts!" one of the freshmen complained bouncing most of his weight onto one leg.

Emmett motioned for Brian to go check it out. Brian rolled his eyes when he saw nothing there. He shook his head 'no' to Emmett as everyone was held in their laughter.

"You think this hurts, wait till you experience real pain out on the field. Are you sure you're ready for this?" Emmett confronted the freshmen getting in his face.

"Yes, Sir! I-I'm r-ready, Sir!" he replied and put his foot back down on the floor.

"Take off the blindfolds," Emmett instructed as he stepped back. As soon as the blindfolds were removed, the freshmen checked their feet to look for cuts and scrapes but didn't find any. They started patting each other on the back excited that they made it through the first test unscathed.

Then they turned their attention to the table that was setup before them. There was a big glass bowl with fifteen goldfish swimming inside.

"Now for your second test – will power," I said while the freshmen gulped and eyed the bowl curiously.

"You will have to swallow one of these," Emmett taunted.

All of the freshmen's mouths dropped open in shock. "But … but is that possible?" one of the freshmen squeaked. You could hear the fear in his voice.

"Yes! It's just a small fish. You've had sushi right. Well, this is the live version," Emmett scoffed at the freshmen. "Blindfolds on!" Emmett yelled and roared his booming laugh scaring the freshmen plebes.

Scott stood over the fish bowl making noises like he was fishing out the goldfish. Steve was handing out the shot cups to each of us who were now standing in front of freshmen.

"Now, I will count to three. You will need to open your mouths and then swallow, ready?" Emmett asked.

"Yes, Sir!" the freshmen answered.

"One, two, three! Open wide!" Emmett shouted.

Just as the freshmen opened their mouths, we threw a shot of Jell-O into it. I could see them swallowing and squirming.

Some looked like they were about to gag. "Ack, I taste a gill." One of the freshmen choked out.

"Uh, I can feel it swimming around in my stomach, is that normal?" another freshmen grimaced as he wrapped his arms around his waist.

"Sir, I think … I think it's stuck. Can I get some water?" yet another freshmen added sounding panicky.

Emmett slapped his back. "You don't need water. It'll swim its way down."

Some of the freshmen cringed. It was hilarious.

We threw away all traces of the Jell-O. Jack replaced the goldfish bowl with the exact same bowl filled with water minus the goldfish.

"Remove the blindfolds," Emmett snapped and the order was carried out swiftly.

"Congratulations, you have passed the second test," I barked. All of the freshmen looked relieved and amazed as they eyed the empty fish bowl. They were starting to get pumped up which was the whole purpose of these tests. After going through all of it, it made you feel like you could conquer anything and we were trying to get them pumped up for their first game on Saturday.

I looked at my watch and sighed. It was going to be a long night.

**

* * *

**I was sleep deprived and felt like a walking zombie. We didn't finish initiation last night until almost four in the morning. My classes went by in a blur and unfortunately, I had football practice today because we had a big game on Saturday. We were playing Green View Prep, our biggest rival and all of us hated their team captain, Jacob Black. The guy was a douche bag times a hundred. Every year we played that team, it would always end in a fight.

As soon as football practice was over, I grabbed dinner for Bella and me and jetted over to her room even though I was felt like I was about to pass out at any moment. When I knocked on her door, a healthier looking Bella greeted me, which made me happy. Maybe I could ask her on a date tonight.

"How are you feeling today? You look a lot better," I observed while walking into her room and setting down my bag and the food.

"I feel a lot better. I think I'm ready to go to class again tomorrow." She smiled at me and my insides melted.

_Geez, what am I? A girl?! _

"So are you up to going to the big football game on Saturday?" I asked while sitting down at her desk. I really wanted her to be there especially to see us kick the other team's ass.

"I'm not sure. It's a night game and I don't want to risk getting sick again," she replied hesitantly jumping up onto her bed.

I tried not to show that I was slightly disappointed so I hid it by opening up the pizza box and handing her a slice.

"Well, we don't want you to get sick again," I said. I definitely didn't want that since I was hoping to ask her out soon and if that meant her not going to the game, I was fine with that.

"How come you look so tired?" she asked eyeing me before biting into her slice of pizza.

I couldn't tell her about initiation night because it was a secret. It was a tradition kept secret by all male athletes at RCP. We were sworn to secrecy that we would never talk about initiation night to anyone outside of the team. I had to keep it and I hated lying to her.

"I was up late last night with the guys," I replied. I wasn't lying. I just left out the details.

"Well, you look like you haven't slept at all," she said studying my face.

"You could say that," I sighed rubbing my hands over my face.

We chatted a bit more before finishing our pizza. I didn't realize how tired I was until I noticed Bella staring at me, and then I yawned.

"You're really tired. We don't have to study tonight," she said and I could tell there was a slight hesitation in her voice. Did she not want me to go?

"No, I'm fine," I replied and pulled out my textbook flashing her a smile. I got up and sat next to her on her bed as we went through today's Biology homework.

I could feel my eyes getting heavy as we continued to read through the chapters and test each other. I could smell Bella's strong lavender and vanilla scent enveloping me. I had no idea how long it had been when I realized I was sleeping, I jerked myself awake as I sat up in bed.

_Where was I? _

I blinked and looked around the room. I was in Bella's room. It was dark outside and the only light on in the room was the one on Bella's desk. I turned and saw her watching me from the desk chair with a small smile on her face.

"Did you have a good nap?" she teased.

"I'm sorry I fell asleep. Why didn't you wake me?" I asked.

She shrugged her shoulders. "You just looked so tired and peaceful that I didn't want to bother you."

"How long have I been asleep for?" I asked stretching my arms over my head.

I noticed Bella staring at me and then she quickly shook her head as her face flushed pink. "Just a few hours."

"What?!" I jumped out of her bed.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Relax, Edward. It's only 11 p.m.," she said standing up.

Damn it, I had to get back to my room. I didn't want Tanya getting pictures of me here like I was spending the night or Emmett would really kill me.

I started gathering my things. "I should get going. It's late and you should be resting, not me. Sorry again for falling asleep."

"It's okay, Edward. I know you're tired. Just make sure you get some rest. I hope you're not getting sick," she replied with concern in her voice.

"No, I'm fine. We just got carried away last night playing around," I admitted.

She followed me as I made my way to the door. I gave her a hug as we said our goodbyes. I mentally cursed myself for not getting the chance to ask her out on a date because I was too tired.

_Damned, initiation night! _

_

* * *

_**A/N: So what did you think of the extra scene? Anyone like Peeping Edward? And what about his kissing history? He's such a nerd! Love him! **

**Did you like the initiation night? Was it funny? ****I hope you liked it. And the initiation night was something that really did happen to my hubby and his friends. And someone really did think they were bleeding! It was hilarious!**

**Thanks for sticking with me! I hope to update the BPOV side by the end of this week too!  
**

**Please Review and Thanks for Reading!**


	11. Time is Running Out

**A/N: I know, I know ... throw tomatoes at me for taking so long at updating! I would too if I were you ... I'm so sorry!! I have been so busy. Summer is definitely the worst time for me. We're moving offices too so I've been so crazed at work! I thought I would have more time but I was wrong so I will try to update when I can. Good thing is that I already started working on the next chapter for this so I hope to be updating sooner rather than later with this story. It might take me awhile to get to RCP (Bella's POV) but I will get there! **

**Thanks to SavageWoman for helping me with this story and correcting all my mistakes. And thanks for giving me advice on adding a few scenes here and there. So readers, you should be happy to know that I added some missing scenes that are not in RCP but in this story. Just small conversations between Edward & Bella that I hope you enjoy! You can thank SavageWoman for those additions!  
**

**Now onto the story ... ever wondered what went through Edward's mind when Jacob entered the story? Well, here you go!  
**

**You must read Ridge Crest Prep first in order to read this story or it won't make any sense.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Twilight or Ally McBeal. I do own the storyline and any characters that I make up.**

* * *

**Chapter 11 –Time is Running Out**

Song – Time is Running Out by Muse

* * *

**RING! RING! **

I reached out and fumbled around my nightstand looking for my cell phone. I found it and pressed it to my ear. "Yeah?" I mumbled.

"_GUESS WHAT!"_ Alice screamed into the phone.

I pulled the phone away from my ear to avoid going permanently deaf. I rubbed my eyes as they adjusted to the light penetrating through the windows. What time was it?

I rolled over and looked at my clock – 5:30 a.m! I was going to kill my sister. I had no idea why she was even up at this hour.

"Alice, it's five in the morning. If this isn't a life threatening emergency, I'm hanging up," I grumbled.

"_I have a boyfriend!"_ she squealed loudly.

I knew it was coming and honestly, at this hour I could care less.

"Alice, I'm really happy for you but it's early. Very early. I didn't get any sleep the night before and I'd like to continue sleeping in peace," I muttered in my haze. I wasn't sure if I was speaking at all but that was what I intended to say. I was sure it came out garbled.

"_Fine! I won't bother you and your dreams about Bel-la. But just know that I'm going with Jazzy to Homecoming if everything works out according to plan," _she retorted.

She had me at Homecoming. I sat up straight in the air wide-awake. What was she doing?

"Whoa, wait. What?" I said slightly panicking. This didn't sound good. Alice was my safety net. If she wasn't going to go with me, who was I supposed to go with? For sure as hell not Lauren!

"_I knew that would wake you up. Don't worry my dear brother. I have everything taken care of and if things go according to plan then you will be thanking me later. God, I'm good. Real good. You should really call me your fairy godmother. But, I'll fill you in later. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise,"_ she teased.

Everything she was saying was going in one ear and out the other. What the hell was she talking about?

I groaned. It was too early in the morning and I decided that Homecoming would have to wait.

"Alice, I'm too tired. I need more sleep. I'll see you later," I said hanging up and tossing my phone onto my nightstand.

Whatever Alice had planned better work out or she would never hear the end of it.

**

* * *

**

Lunch had started as Alice and I walked into the food court.

"So I have good news!" Alice chirped.

"What is it now?" I asked reluctantly to find out what else could've happened since this morning. I grabbed my lunch and paid the cashier.

"I found you a date for Homecoming!" she squealed loudly causing a few heads to turn toward our direction. I thought I heard a freshmen girl whimper and walk away but ignored it.

"Alice," I hissed under my breath, "I told you that I didn't want to get set up. I don't want everyone to think that I can't get my own date to a dance."

"Um, well, that's exactly what's going on, right, Sherlock?" she mocked.

"_Alice," _I warned.

She burst into giggles. "Chillax, Edward! You will be _very_ happy." She smiled at me with a twinkle in her eye. I knew she was up to no good when I saw that mischievous sparkle.

I was about to argue with her when I heard Ms. Dalton's high-pitched voice speak over the loud speaker.

"_Attention students! We will now announce the Homecoming nominees for this year's Homecoming King and Queen." _

The entire food court went silent. It was ridiculous how serious everyone took the nominations for any dance. Alice looked at me with wide eyes surprised at the significance of the situation. I shrugged my shoulders and started walking toward the lunch tables with Alice following behind me.

We made our way through the frozen crowd standing like statues as they listened intently to what Ms. Dalton had to say. I spotted Bella sitting at her lunch table. She went back to classes today and I was relieved to see she looked much healthier. She was rolling her eyes and I silently chuckled knowing that we were on the same wavelength.

I took the seat next to Bella as Alice pulled out the seat on the other side of her.

I leaned in toward her and whispered, "Hi."

"Hey," she said while giving me a soft smile and turning her attention to her food.

"Pretty crazy, huh?" I said while looking around the room.

"Ugh, no need to remind me how serious everyone takes these dances; it's so silly," she said puckering up her face.

I chuckled lightly and nodded in agreement. I silently hoped that I wouldn't be nominated for Homecoming since I hated the attention. I wanted to avoid the never-ending cycle. The biggest reason why I hated being nominated was that if I won, I would be stuck doing a King and Queen dance. It wasn't so bad if the winner was Stacy, Jenny, or someone that I at least knew. But a repeat of last year was the worst thing that could happen. When Lauren Mallory won Homecoming Queen, I had to endure dancing with her while she tried to grab my ass the entire time. That was the closest I have ever allowed her to get to me. I could still remember the smell of her horrible breath and toxic perfume. It made me nauseous and I cringed as I recalled the memory.

Ms. Dalton continued speaking in her bubbly voice,

"_This year's nominees for Homecoming King are Edward Cullen, Jasper Hale, Emmett Swan, Jack Taylor, and Mark Welch."_

I sighed as my name was called. I knew it was wishful thinking. I could hear the entire food court whispering as loud clapping resounded across the room. Emmett stood up bowing and saying "Thank you!" like he just performed on stage.

I did what I did every year at these announcements and gave a smile to the crowd knowing that the entire food court was eyeing our table. Then I glanced back down at my food.

Bella leaned in toward me and said in a soft voice, "Congratulations!"

I looked at her and shrugged my shoulders replying with a nonchalant thanks. I really hoped she didn't think that I enjoyed any of this.

Jasper looked completely shocked as Emmett pounded his fist hard onto his back. Mark and Jack were giving each other high-fives.

"_This year's nominees for Homecoming Queen are Alice Cullen, Rosalie Hale, Lauren Mallory, Stacy Perkins and Isabella Swan. Don't forget to vote!" _

Loud wolf whistles filled the air. I observed Bella curious of her reaction to all of this since I knew she hated attention more than I did. She smiled happily at Rose and Alice. She looked extremely happy for them but I wasn't sure if she knew what really happened. Emmett patted her on the back and I saw her face scrunch up in confusion.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" she asked curiously looking around the table.

"Bella, did you not hear them say your name?" Alice asked her.

"Say my name for what?" Bella asked sounding confused.

"For Homecoming Queen, DUH!" Rose replied matter-of-factly.

Bella quickly jumped out of her seat screaming, "WHAT!"

She looked around and noticed that people were staring at her. Her face flushed red as she slowly sat back down in her seat and hissed, "What?"

"You were nominated for Homecoming Queen, silly!" Alice shrieked.

I saw Bella's face turn pale white as she froze in place. Her eyes glazed over and she looked shocked.

Was she okay?

Jasper sighed. Alice and I watched him as he got up from his seat and leaned toward Bella. I wasn't sure what he was going to do and I almost wanted to throw myself in front of her to shield her. Then he reached over and pinched her hard on her left arm.

_What the?_

"Ow!" Bella yelped jumping up from her seat.

"Good, she's okay now," Jasper said sitting back down in his seat as if it was no big deal.

Was this normal for them? Was that what they always did? Why did he pinch her? A million questions flooded my mind leaving me completely perplexed. I eyed Alice curiously wondering what just happened. She gave me a similar probing glance. Emmett and Rose rolled their eyes unfazed by the situation.

I noticed Bella, still frozen in place. She didn't look like she was breathing so I was starting to worry.

"Breathe, Bella. Breathe," I said trying to calm her down. I started rubbing circles on her back as she slowly started taking deep breaths.

"Me? Are you sure there wasn't a mistake? How could I be nominated?" Bella asked.

I turned to look at her with my eyebrows raised. Why wouldn't she be nominated? She was the perfect candidate and I was surprised that she didn't think that way.

"Bella, stop it. You were nominated and that's final! There was no mistake and you should be happy so stop acting like it's the end of the world!" Alice demanded.

I saw Bella jut out her bottom lip slightly pouting.

"Are you okay?" I asked just quiet enough for her to hear. I looked around the table and saw that everyone was off in their own worlds and that they probably wouldn't be paying any attention to us either way.

"Yeah," she sighed.

"I know you're not okay. But don't worry, Rose will win and then you won't have to worry about a thing," I said hoping she would feel better. And then I wanted to slap myself because I realized how she could've interpreted what I said incorrectly. I just told her that she wouldn't win and that Rose would win instead.

_Good going, __Idiot!_

"I, uh, that's not what I meant. I meant that you could win." I watched Bella cringe. "_But_ think of Rose winning instead and that way you won't have to be so nervous," I said quickly hoping to cover up my mistake.

If anything, I probably just made everything worse.

She smiled at me weakly but I could tell in her eyes that she took no offense to what I said.

_Phew!_

"It's okay, Edward. You don't need to make me feel better. I'm fine. This is just not an ideal situation for me, that's all," she said.

"But thanks for trying to cheer me up," she smiled at me before she turned back to her lunch.

She remained quiet as she finished eating her food. I didn't know what else I could say to make her feel better so all I did was worry about her more.

**

* * *

**

I was standing outside with Emmett, Jasper and Alice waiting for Bella and Rose to come out of their dorm building to meet us for dinner. Jasper and Alice were off in their own world chatting softly to each other while making googly eyes. I was surprised. He seemed to have such a calming effect on her. It was a nice change of pace since she was usually so loud and in everyone's business twenty-four seven.

Emmett wrapped his arm around my shoulder tightly. It was a little tighter than normal as I felt it cut off the circulation in my arms.

"So, Eddie-boy! What's going on?" he asked raising his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. I was about to tell him not to call me that, but this was Emmett. I realized it would lead to a long argument that I didn't want.

I shrugged my shoulders hoping to get out from under his death grip, me but it didn't work. "Nothing much, why?" I offered hoping he would leave me alone. I didn't feel like talking about Bella in front of Jasper. We weren't close enough yet and I didn't feel the need to share that information with him.

Emmett glanced at me curiously and then eyed Jasper and Alice. Realization dawned on his face as he leaned in closer and whispered in my ear, "So when are you planning to ask my lil sis out? Because from the looks of it, you'd better get your ass moving soon! The line is starting to form, and I don't trust any of these other guys. So man up already and just do it!" He released his death grip and slapped me on the back, hard.

He laughed a booming laugh and turned his head toward the dorm building. As I watched Bella and Rose make their way out of the lobby, I could see the heads of every guy within a mile radius turn their heads to watch them.

The green-eyed monster was slowly making its appearance and I knew I had to act soon. Bella greeted us as Rose threw herself into Emmett's embrace in a very public display of affection. It was obvious she was trying to show everyone who held her affections, and I only wished that Bella would do the same. That's if I ever grew the balls to ask her out.

I sulked silently as everyone started walking toward TGI Friday's.

"So tell me about this big rivalry?" Bella asked as she fell in step with me making me forget all about my brooding.

"Do you know anything about Green View Prep?" I asked her.

She shook her head and looked at me curiously. "No, I told you, I don't follow any sports."

I secretly hoped that she did for my sake but I knew I had a better chance at winning the lottery before that happened.

"Well, things aren't _great_ with that team. We had a long history of a rivalry that dates back thirty years. That's why this is biggest game of the season because of all the past history that we've had. It's sort of like _USC_ vs. _UCLA_," I explained hoping she would understand but confusion spread across her face.

"It's like _Coke_ vs. _Pepsi_. Which one is better? In this case, it's which football team is better?" I clarified.

I could tell that she was slowly starting to understand from my analogy.

"What happened in the past that makes the rivalry so bad?"she asked.

"That's a good question. I don't even know how it all started but I know that the guys on that team never play fair. They always find some way to cheat. And what's worse is that they are all hot-headed. So whenever we play them a fight always breaks out," I said.

Bella's eyes grew wide. "A fight? It's that bad?" she posed.

I rubbed my hand against the back of my neck slightly embarrassed for having to admit to fighting. It's not the greatest solution to an argument but with that team it worked perfectly.

"Yeah, it gets bad," I replied honestly.

"Even our coaches can't stand their coaches," I added.

The restaurant was loud and crowded. I grabbed onto Bella's arm steering her through the mob as we made our way to the back of the restaurant where the other half of our group sat watching the game on TV.

I saw people wearing Team Beck and Team Edella shirts, which made me want to roll my eyes. I couldn't believe the stupid things some people would do at this school.

As we approached the table, I saw Jack's gaze eyeing my hand on Bella's arm. I immediately let go of her and greeted everyone at the table. I didn't want him to feel uncomfortable, but I knew that was inevitable.

Jack and I still weren't talking to each other. It was awkward. We never talked about what happened, but with all the hype about Team Beck and Team Edella, he knew there was something going on. I wasn't sure if there was still anything going on with him and Bella anymore. From what I'd heard, they weren't a couple or even dating, but I couldn't help but wonder.

Once Bella sat down, I grabbed the seat next to her. I didn't want to miss my chance of spending time with her. We chatted with everyone and ordered our food. After a few minutes, Bella left to use the restroom.

She was gone for a while and I noticed that Jack had left the table too. As I looked around the restaurant to see if she was walking back to the table, I saw the rival football team from Green View Prep.

"What are _they_ doing here?" I growled in annoyance.

All eyes at our table turned to follow my gaze as I looked at where the rival team was sitting. I could see Jacob Black yanking on someone's arm.

I couldn't see the person he was talking to because the divider blocked my view. I started wondering what was happening. It didn't look like a nice exchange. I stood up from the table to get a better view. I thought I recognized the deep chocolate brown hue at the top of the person's head and hoped that it wasn't who I thought it was. I peered closer and saw that it was Bella snapping at him.

_WTF?!_

The anger coursed through me just from seeing that she was so upset. Was he actually talking and touching her? I hated Jacob! He was always a troublemaker, and now that he was here talking to the one person I never wanted him to meet, I was beyond pissed.

"He's talking to Bella!" I yelled stalking toward Jacob's direction. I could hear the chairs screeching behind me as the rest of the guys got up to follow me.

"None of your business jerk!" Bella barked at Jacob trying to walk away. I've never seen her so mad. But, more amazing, I've never seen her stand up to someone who was probably four times her size. She didn't look scared at all, which surprised me, but I didn't have time to stop and stare.

Then he reached over and grabbed her wrist hard swinging her around to face him. At that moment, I saw only red. I could feel the blood pumping through my veins as everything around me got hazy. I focused my anger targeting Jacob as my fists tightened.

"LET HER GO, BLACK!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. The entire restaurant fell silent but I didn't care. He couldn't treat women like that and especially _my _Bella.

I could hear Emmett cursing under his breath. I was sure Scott was the only thing holding him back from beating Jacob down to a pulp. Jacob let go of Bella and stood up from his table with the rest of his pathetic team standing up behind him for support. I could see Bella rubbing her wrist and my anger increased ten-fold. I wanted to pummel Jacob into the ground for physically hurting her.

"DON'T TOUCH HER EVER AGAIN, BLACK!" Emmett boomed. Scott was frantically trying to hold Emmett back. Jacob and his friends would be stupid for standing up to Emmett. Emmett could squash each of them with one finger.

"Well, well … It looks like I found the key to everyone's weakness. Who is she?" Jacob taunted. He wanted to know who she was, but I wasn't having that.

"NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS! DO YOU WANT A REPEAT OF WHAT HAPPENED AT LAST YEAR'S GAME?" I yelled walking closer to Jacob so I could stand face to face with him.

I hurt him pretty good last year giving him a few punches to the face and breaking his nose. He screamed like a girl and deserved every hit.

I was so close to Jacob, I could swing a punch at him right now but Bella was standing in between us. I tried to push her behind me but she wasn't budging. Her stubborn side was coming out and I was starting to get annoyed. She could get hurt and she didn't seem to understand how dangerous this could potentially get.

"WE CAN REPEAT WHAT HAPPENED RIGHT HERE!" Jacob yelled rolling up his sleeves. I wanted to roll my eyes at his pitiful threat. He was always all show and no action.

"STOP!" Bella screamed at the top of her lungs. Everyone turned to look at her petite frame stuck between Jacob and me.

Then she glared at Jacob with fury in her eyes and started yelling at him, "You are the biggest asshat on this planet! And don't you dare think that you can treat women rudely and grab them whenever you want. You need to learn how to respect women."

And then she did something that shocked the hell out of everyone. She brought her leg back and kicked him hard in the balls. Jacob hunched over grabbing his crotch as he hissed in pain. Tears were trailing down his cheeks. The rest of his team covered their private areas and yelled out "Ow!"

I was pretty sure I was gaping at her along with everyone else in the room. That looked painful. Jacob and his friends left the restaurant making menial threats that meant nothing. He was going to get what he deserved tomorrow. I would make sure that happened.

As we returned to our table, the guys crowded around Bella praising her for what she did. I was a little worried about her and wondered if she was okay. But most of all, I was proud of her for standing up to Jacob. As always, she surprised me and I never saw it coming, completely taken aback.

Throughout the rest of dinner, the girls kept asking about the big rivalry making it hard for us to tell them that we fought like a bunch of kids on the field. We definitely had our reasons to fight, and I would do it again if it meant giving Jacob a black eye. There was just something about that team that got under everyone's skin.

I tried to explain to Bella the rules of football while we watched a game on TV, but she was too confused.

"Wait, so what do you do on the field as a quarterback?" she asked.

"I'm on the offensive line. Emmett, who is our team center, stands in front of me and then hikes the ball to me. I can then run with the ball toward the goal line, throw the ball to another player, or attempt a forward pass," I described.

"Okay, you totally lost me there. What's a forward pass?" she asked.

"That's when someone makes a pass at you, Bella!" Brian joked winking at her.

Bella's cheeks turned pink and I rolled my eyes. I ignored Brian and continued on.

"A forward pass is when I throw the ball toward the direction of the opponent's end line."

"But why would you throw it toward the direction of the enemy team?"

"Enemy team, huh?" I teased.

She pouted. "It's the only way I can understand this crazy game! It's like a war. _Lions_ vs. _Wolves_, right?"

I nodded in agreement to her analogy. "Each team tackles the other until one team wins, right? And you call that fun?" she said scratching her head.

I started laughing.

"What's so funny? Are you laughing at me?" she asked innocently.

I laughed harder this time. She was just too cute for her own good.

"Laugh all you want, Edward. I'm glad to see that I'm your source for amusement," she huffed.

"I'm sorry," I said between my laughs. "Your thought of the game is just too funny. We're not just tackling each other just for fun you know. And that's not how you win. You have to score a goal and whoever scores the most points wins," I simplified.

"I know that but it just looks like you guys just like to rough each other up," she replied shrugging her shoulders.

She turned her gaze back to the television. I watched as she bit her lip and scrunched up her face. She really had no idea when it came to sports. Hopefully, basketball would be easier to explain to her.

Once the game ended, we headed back to the dorms.

"So there must be some pranks or something that you guys do to each other right?" Bella asked smiling at me mischievously.

"Oh definitely, let me think of what's appropriate to tell you," I teased. There were plenty of pranks but some I couldn't repeat to a girl of course!

"Appropriate?! Oh no ...," she said shaking her head.

"Well, there was one time when Steve put itching powder in Mark's football pants," I said.

"NO WAY!" she squealed loudly and then burst into giggles.

I laughed. "Yeah, let's just say that the dance Mark made when he made a touchdown wasn't a dance he choreographed." She laughed harder.

"And what else?" she asked as she calmed down.

"Last year, Brian shrunk Mike Newton's football jersey right before a game so he had to wear it onto the field. It was tight and was cropped so it barely covered his stomach," I said.

She laughed even harder.

"I remember that from Tanya's column! Something about 'Mike Newton going drag!'"

Even though I hated that column, that story was pretty funny when it came out.

"Yep, that was it!" I exclaimed.

"Oh and one ti–," I was cut off as Bella

tripped on something and flew toward the floor. Luckily, I reached out quickly and grabbed her, pulling her up to steady her.

"Are you okay?" I asked looking at her and making sure she didn't hurt herself. My voice was so full of concern, I was almost positive my feelings toward her were blatantly obvious.

Then I noticed a large bruise on her forehead. I didn't see it before because her hair was covering her forehead, but it made me wonder if Jacob gave that to her. I wanted to rip his head off but her cheeks turned slightly pink and I knew it wasn't Jacob's fault.

"Thanks. I'm fine. I just hit my head today," she answered nonchalantly.

I wanted to ask her more about it, but she didn't seem like she wanted to elaborate so I let it go. I set her back down on her feet and hoped that she wouldn't hurt herself anymore. It was starting to become a full time job watching over her, not that I minded it one bit.

**

* * *

**

"Did you get them?" I asked Brian. He was putting on his football pads while we were standing in the middle of our locker room. It was thirty minutes before the game and the rest of the team was getting dressed.

"Of course, they are ready to go and we can set it up during fourth quarter," Brian replied.

"I still don't know how you did that, but I bow down to you. You're the man!" Emmett shouted and pounded him hard on the back.

Brian winced slightly at the pain and replied casually, "Eh, it was the usual connections."

"Yeah but vampire bats? How on earth did you pull that off?" Scott asked.

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," Brian answered in a threatening voice.

Everyone laughed. I found out from Seth that Jacob was deathly afraid of vampire bats, so we thought of the perfect prank. It turned out that Seth knew Jacob through family connections. Jacob had bullied Seth while they were younger so Seth thought he deserved the perfect payback.

As soon as the team finished getting dressed, they left to meet up with the coach outside. I lingered for a bit, hoping to get a chance to thank Brian for his help. It was my idea to get back at Jacob, and he didn't have to help me.

Once the locker room was empty, I turned to him. "Thanks for helping out man," I said.

"Don't mention it, Edward. Bella's a cool gal and Jacob deserves it. Plus, I owe you, remember?" Brian said cringing at the memory.

--Flashback—

_It was__ my sophomore year and I was captain of the junior varsity football team. We had just finished practice and I was checking out the locker room to make sure that no one left anything out. The coach would kill me for not watching after the team. _

_I thought I was the only one left in the room but then I heard soft talking. It was a guy and a girl's voice. I knew it wasn't right to eavesdrop__, but then I heard my name and curiosity got the best of me. _

"_I'm with Edward. How could you not know?" the girl said mockingly._

"_But I thought we had something," the guy whispered softly. The voices sounded extremely familiar but I couldn't figure out who they were. I could sense pain in the guy's voice and I felt horrible for him. He obviously cared a lot about this girl. _

_The girl laughed and said, "You honestly thought that I would've stayed with you. That this was going to last?"_

_It was quiet. I could almost hear the silent sobs coming from the guy. _

"_Oh my gosh, you really did think that, didn't you?" the girl laughed louder this time with her evil cackle ringing throughout the room. I recognized that cackle instantly – Lauren Mallory._

"_I only used you to get to Edward. And it worked perfectly," she scorned. _

_Was she delusional? There was no way in hell I would ever be hers. I tried my best to keep quiet but her comment irritated me to no end. _

_I walked out to where they were standing and cleared my throat. I was surprised to see Brian standing there with a defeated look on his face. He was always a jokester and seeing him like that made me pissed. She messed with my friend and was spreading lies. _

"_Lauren, I heard everything," her face turned pale white knowing that I caught her in her own lies. _

"_There is nothing going on between us. Never has been and never will because I DON'T LIKE YOU!" I shouted at her. I was taught to be a gentleman – always, but something about Lauren annoyed me to no end. It was probably because she never listened. It was like she had selective hearing, and I thought that if I shouted maybe this time she might finally hear me. I could see Brian sigh in relief knowing that there really was nothing going on between us. _

_My plan didn't seem to work as she just smiled at me and batted her eyelashes. "Some day, Eddie. Some day," she teased. She glanced at Brian and laughed to herself before walking out of the locker room. _

_Brian stayed silent and leaned __back against the locker banging the back of his head against it. _

"_I am so stupid!" he screamed. _

"_Come on, you didn't know she was like that," I offered hoping to ease the situation, except that everyone knew what Lauren was like. I was just surprised that he didn't realize it. _

"_The signs were all there. I just ignored them. I honestly thought she cared about me," he sighed ruffling his hands through his sandy blonde hair before pulling at the ends. _

"_Maybe she did," I said. I wasn't sure how "close" they were since Brian never said anything about their relationship to anyone. _

"_Yeah, right. And pigs can fly," he replied sarcastically. _

"_For what it's worth, nothing has ever happened between Mallory and me. I wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole," I said. _

_He chuckled. "Thanks for clearing that up. I almost believed her until you said something." _

"_Well, good. I'm glad that's cleared up," I sighed. I didn't need anyone upset at me for Lauren's vicious lies. _

"_How long has this been going on?" I asked curiously. I didn't want to pry but I needed to know when. _

"_About three months," he answered looking down at his feet with downcast eyes. _

_After a moment of silence, he looked up at me and asked, "__Why?" _

"_It's nothing," I responded and shrugged my shoulders trying to keep my cool. _

"_Edward. Come on, I know you know something," he pushed._

"_Well, I just don't know if I should say anything." I stuck my hands in my pockets and hoped he wouldn't ask me more since I knew it would hurt him. _

"_It's better that I know now so I can get over this quicker. Just tell me," he pleaded. _

"_I caught Lauren in the ASB office going at it with Royce King three weeks ago," I said quickly. _

"_What?!" Brian yelled and started cursing under his breath. He was calling Lauren every name in the book. _

_He was slightly depressed for about a week__, but it soon turned to full hatred. From that point on, he made it his personal mission to make her high school life a living hell. I had to hand it to him. He did a pretty good job annoying her to death. And, he kept her away from the majority of the football team, which helped. _

_I never said anything about his "secret" relationship to anyone. He thanked me for keeping quiet and for listening to him that day when he truly needed a friend. He was also grateful that I never teased him about it. I__ was about to rib him about it because, seriously, __who on earth would ever date Lauren Mallory? But, I saw how hurt he was that day. He truly did care for her and she treated him like a piece of trash. _

--End of Flashback—

He always joked that he owed me but I never thought he would repay me with something like this. We walked out onto the field and prepared ourselves for the most intense game of the season.

I was excited, I could feel the adrenaline pump through me, and it was mostly because I knew. Tonight was the night I was finally going to man up.

* * *

**A/N: What did you think? Was the Brian and Lauren hook up a shocker?! There had to be a reason why he hated her so much, right?! And I had to build up why Lauren is such a horrible person and deserved all the revenge. **

**Did you like the missing conversations I added between Edward & Bella? Hopefully it added more bonding time even though it's all fluffy!  
**

**I hope you liked this! **

**Next chapter ... The Big Game and our boy finally MANS up!! It will be fun! **

**Please Review and Thanks for Reading!!  
**


	12. You Only Live Once

**A/N: Alright so I told you I would update this weekend!! I'm off to San Diego tomorrow to visit some friends and might stop by Comic Con along the way. Just to check out the scene. I won't be updating again for awhile but at least you got two chapters for this in one week, right?! I'm hoping to update RCP and Must Love Dogs next!  
**

**Thanks to SavageWoman again for being the best beta EVER!**

**Oh I know you want to read about our boy finally growing a pair! So read on! Also, wanted to let you know that there is some sensitive language below because this is the big football game between Green View Prep (Jacob's school) and RCP. It had to be intense to cause a fight, read on with caution ...  
**

**You must read Ridge Crest Prep first in order to read this story or it won't make any sense.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Twilight or Ally McBeal. I do own the storyline and any characters that I make up.**

**

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****Chapter 12 – You Only Live Once**

Song – You Only Live Once by The Strokes

* * *

The screams and cheers filling the stadium were deafening. I tried to focus on what Emmett was saying but it was hard to hear him over the loud noise. It looked like everyone came out for this game since it was the biggest rivalry of the season. I spotted Bella in the crowd right away and was glad that she was able to make it. I just hoped she wouldn't have to see me fight if it came down to throwing punches.

"There's going to be a lot of guys talkin' shit, so be prepared and don't let them get to you. Strike them fast, strike them hard and have no mercy!" Emmett yelled.

We all nodded in agreement. I was surprised that even Mike Newton and his friends looked pumped up to take the rival team down. We did our team cheer and took our positions on the field.

As a tradition, the captain of both teams had to shake hands. I knew Emmett was dreading it muttering that he would rather get his eyes gouged out with a rusty nail then shake hands with a mongrel. I watched as Emmett walked up to Jacob who had a smug smile on his face – I wanted to rip it right off.

"So, Emmett, when are you going to introduce me to your sister, Bella?" Jacob sneered. He found out Bella's name, which made my fists clench, ready to take him down.

"I'm sure she'd like a ride on the Jacob train," he added. Before the words were completely out of Jacob's disgusting mouth, Emmett lunged for him. I could see fear in Jacob's eyes and knew that he was terrified, but he masked it by trying to look strong in front of his team. Scott, who was the closest to Emmett, grabbed a hold of him before he could hit Jacob.

But, Scott wasn't able to stop me as I rushed toward Jacob. Unfortunately, Steve was there to stop me, stepping in front of me and blocking my access to that butt-sniffing pooch. "DON'T EVER TALK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT!" I shouted trying to push against Steve, who was doing a good job holding me back. I saw Jack getting furious, as well, and watched as Mark gripped his shoulders.

"BLACK, I WILL CUT YOUR BALLS OFF AND FEED THEM TO YOUR DOG!" Emmett shouted. Scott was struggling to hold him back.

I could hear whispers and murmurs filling the stadium as I was sure people were wondering what we were arguing about.

"She really is one hot piece of ass! I don't know how you two are related!" Jacob laughed and leered in Bella's direction.

I didn't know if Bella was looking at us, but as soon as I looked up, I saw her flip Jacob off causing our entire team to burst into laughter. That was unexpected.

"Looks like someone just got merked," Brian mocked.

"Still think you're hot stuff now, Black?" Mark snorted.

I saw Jacob narrow his eyes, obviously not happy about Bella's feelings toward him. I beamed with pride. She hated him just as much as I did, and that only made me happier.

Eventually Coach Smith and the two assistant coaches ran out to the field and demanded that we stop bickering. The game started with no handshake, but we didn't care. We were going to beat these guys.

The game was extremely rough as we tackled whoever got in our way. It was close to halftime and we were leading 7-0. Jacob and his team were making comments and snide remarks throughout the entire game. We ignored it as much as we could, and I tried my best not to let it get to me.

It wasn't until we were getting ready for a play that Mark yelled out that they were cheating. I wasn't sure what was going on, everything happened so quickly. Mark and a few others started taking off their helmets and the next thing I knew, the guys were pushing each other.

"What's going on?" Emmett shouted removing his helmet.

"I saw Paul move the yard marker!" Mark roared.

"Prove it, Jackass!" Paul growled.

I removed my helmet and glanced over to the yard markers. One of them looked like it was askew.

"Em, it does look like it was moved," I whispered to him quietly.

"Keep your team in check, Black!" Emmett boomed.

"My team is fine. You should be looking after yours, dickhead!" Jacob barked.

"What did you just call me?" Emmett asked with a menacing voice.

"I called you a _dick_-head," Jacob sneered enunciating each syllable.

Emmett was about to fling his fist toward Jacob's face, when I stepped in between them. I tried my best to stop them from fighting even though I wanted to hit Jacob as much as Emmett did.

"Move out of the way, pretty boy! The sooner you're out of my way for good, the sooner I can be with Bella! Once she has Black she'll never go back!" Jacob taunted.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. I pretended to walk away but I clenched my fist tightly and swung it as far back as it could go. I turned around quickly and hit Jacob smack in the eye.

Caught off guard, Jacob fell backwards onto the ground. As soon as my fist made contact with his face, everyone started fighting. Punches were flying and people were falling over and wrestling each other to the ground.

I kept my eye focused on Jacob as he tried to hide from the rest of the crowd. He was crawling on the floor trying to avoid getting hit.

_Coward!_

As I stalked off in his direction, a fist hit me in the mouth catching me off guard. I could taste the blood on my tongue and hoped that I didn't lose any teeth.

Mom would be pissed.

I turned to face the guy who hit me and saw Paul smiling at me arrogantly. I lunged at him taking him down and punching him in the face. I didn't stop until I heard Coach Smith's voice and felt someone grabbing me by my shirt collar pulling me off Paul.

"BREAK IT UP NOW!" one of the referees yelled.

"CARTER, GET YOUR TEAM OFF MY TEAM!" Coach Smith yelled at the Green View Prep's coach. They had a long history of not getting along as well.

As the coaches argued amongst themselves, we trudged back to our team bench. I looked around at my teammates; we didn't look too bad. I could tell that my lip was swollen wincing slightly at the pain, but I ignored it. I glanced over at the Green View Team and smirked. They looked like they took a good pounding.

We resumed the rest of the quarter before halftime. The fight pumped Brian up and he was now anxious to setup the bat prank as soon as he could get a break. Our coaches lashed out at us about the fight, but when Coach Smith found out the reasons behind it, he was actually supportive in both Bella's case and the cheating.

Halftime finished quickly and we were back on the field. Brian and Scott were able to sneak off to setup the rival team's locker room without anyone noticing. With the game tied, we were down to the last minute of the fourth quarter.

The referee blew his whistle starting the game. Emmett quickly hiked the ball to me and tried his best to block the opposing team, especially Jacob, who was trying hard to get to me. He was pissed about the big purplish black eye taking up residence on the left side of his face.

_Who's the pretty boy now?_

I frantically searched the field trying to throw it to someone, but no one was available. So I decided to make a run for it. I knew I was the fastest on the team and that I had a high chance of actually making it to the end zone. We were only thirty yards away.

I started running dodging everyone in my path from trying to tackle me. I could almost feel someone closing in as the sound of footsteps got louder. I pushed myself to run faster as my breathing increased. I could feel my chest constrict due to the lack of air in my lungs.

The end zone was in my direct line of sight, and as I pushed myself toward it, I passed the thick bold white line and spiked the football to the ground.

_Touchdown!_

The entire stadium erupted into a thunderous roar of cheers. I took off my helmet and looked in Bella's direction. I found her in the crowd cheering loudly. I pointed at her and winked. She flashed me a big smile and my heart skipped.

My team came up slapping me on the back and congratulating me for making the winning TD. Emmett was beaming at me proudly. I watched as Jacob and his team stalked off the field obviously pissed off about what happened. Brian turned around to face us and had a smug smile on his face knowing that his master plan was about to unfold.

**

* * *

**

We quickly showered and got dressed before going outside to meet out friends. I walked out of the locker room behind Emmett, hoping that his massive form would shield me from my fan club. Unfortunately, it didn't help much – I was practically mobbed.

The only thing I cared about was to see Bella and as I searched for her, I found her – my eyes locking with hers. I smiled as I watched her run to me pushing her way through the massive crowd. Her eyes were full of concern and fear.

She hit me with full force as her small body pressed against my tall frame and I marvelled at how good she felt. "Are you okay?" she muttered under her breath. When her eyes started to water, I immediately started to worry. Why she was so upset? I hoped everything was okay. Then she reached up and touched my lip. I winced slightly but quickly forgot the pain when my lip started to tingle where her fingers had been.

I snapped out of my daze and realized that we were still surrounded by crazy fan girls. I grabbed Bella's arms and pushed her to an open area away from the crowd. I knew my fan club would get a clue that I wanted to be left alone.

"I'm fine," I replied giving her a soft smile. She immediately looked relieved. I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but before I could say anything, I fell victim to one of Alice's tackles. She wrapped her tiny arms around me tightly. Alice may be small, but she's really strong.

"You scared me, Ed-ward!" Alice hissed.

"Alice, can't breathe," I choked trying to catch my breath.

She was just as strong as Emmett, and I never understood how she had such super human strength for being the size of a pixie.

"I'm sorry," she said releasing her grip.

I took a few breaths as Jasper's eyes went wide. I shrugged my shoulders at him as he gaped, open-mouthed at Alice. He would figure it out eventually.

Then, I felt a giant hand pat me on the back. It was Emmett, as always. He turned to the girls and started re-telling the story of what happened on the field. We promised as a team that we wouldn't reveal the details and the vile things that Jacob said. The girls tried to pry the information out of us, but we held fast giving brief answers to their questions. We weren't lying; we just decided not to share information.

Just then, we heard screams coming from the Green View Prep teams locker room. We all cranked our heads in the direction of the ruckus. Wearing only towels wrapped around their waists, their entire team came running out of the locker room. Soap was dripping down their bodies and water was everywhere. As I suspected, Jacob was screaming the loudest and flailing his arms around trying to protect his face. Then a massive colony of dark grey bats flew out of the locker room.

I looked at Bella trying to gauge her reaction. I thought she would be scared but instead she pinched herself in the arm. I looked at her curiously and burst out laughing.

_Why did she do that?_

I wasn't sure if she knew I was laughing at her since everyone else was laughing at Jacob and his team. Right at that moment, the entire Green View Prep team turned toward our direction glaring at us with narrowed eyes.

"Quick! Break!" Emmett yelled as everyone started running off in opposite directions. I looked around and saw that Bella looked baffled and almost scared at the mass chaos that broke out. I grabbed onto her hand and pulled her behind me as we ran toward the mall.

Once we reached the mall, we stopped running. We were panting and gasping for air. I looked up and saw Alice smiling at me with an extremely excited look in her eye. I wasn't sure what she was smiling at until I looked down and realized that I was holding Bella's hand.

I slowly let go not sure what she would think. I didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable around me since we were just starting to grow closer as friends.

I could hear Alice's scream in my head as she gave me the stink eye.

_"Are you stupid?!"_

Alice and I continued with our silent conversation and I could practically feel the heat from her stare. I gave her a look that I would tell her later. It didn't appease her; she still looked like she wanted to strangle me.

When Bella asked what just happened, we explained the prank we pulled on Jacob with the vampire bats. We all burst into laughter. Then, Emmett asked who was going to _Johnny Rockets_. I watched as everyone nodded and then turned to look at Bella for her response. She was quiet.

She looked down at her feet and answered, "I actually wanted to get some ice cream and then head back to the dorms. I'm still not feeling the best yet and I don't want to get sick again."

Alice's eyes screamed at me to do something. This was my chance. I had to think of something quick.

"I'll go with you," I blurted out. I hoped I didn't sound too desperate.

"I probably need some ice cream for my lip anyways," I said as the rest of the group turned toward _Johnny Rockets_. Emmett smiled at me while Alice, Jasper and Rose gave us smirks instead. We waved our goodbyes to everyone and then she turned to me.

"You don't have to come with me Edward. I'm just going to pick up some _Baskin Robbins _and bring it back to my room," she said.

I felt a sharp pain in my chest. Did she want to be alone? Did I just make myself do something stupid that I didn't realize?

Before I could think things through I blurted out, "Oh, did you want to be alone?"

I mentally slapped myself for sounding like such a girl.

"No!" she said quickly. I could sense that she really didn't want me to leave and my heart started to beat faster.

"No, I meant that you didn't have to come if you don't want to. But I'll be happy if I had company," she said with a slight hint of pink filling her cheeks.

I gave her a big smile as we walked toward the store. When we got to _Baskin Robbins_, she looked like a kid in a candy store. Her eyes grew wide looking at all the flavors. She was too cute for her own good.

She ordered Mint Chocolate Chip and I ordered Jamocha Almond Fudge. Of course, I wouldn't let her pay even though she fought me tooth and nail for it even as we headed back to her room.

The dorms were quiet and I was sure everyone was out celebrating the big win, not that I cared. I was with the girl of my dreams, literally.

When we got to her room, she opened the door and flicked on the lights.

"Edward, are you sure you want to stay? I didn't mean to take away the excitement from your big win today. I mean you scored the winning touchdown!" she said walking into her room.

I was surprised that she even knew what a touchdown was. I followed her into the room.

"So you know what a touchdown is?" I teased.

She rolled her eyes at me. "I at least know what that is. But seriously, I might not be good company since I might just watch a movie and go to bed early."

"I want to be here and I was feeling tired too," I said honestly. I wanted her to know that I did want to spend time with her and that I didn't care about the stupid win.

My eyes immediately fell on the navy blue jersey that was lying face up on her bed. It was my number and my last name in big white letters across the back. The odd thing about it was that it was extremely short. It wasn't a normal sized jersey so I was confused. Where did she get that?

Her gaze followed mine as she quickly realized what was on her bed. She reached for it in a flash, grabbed it and threw it into her closet.

"Sorry about that. Alice gave it to me before the game and I didn't get a chance to wear it," she said turning red.

I silently sighed in relief. Not that I wouldn't want to see her in it, but I wouldn't want other guys to ogle her body while she was wearing it. If she did wear that shirt, I doubt I would be able to stop my jealousy from rearing its ugly head. I would have to sit Alice down and talk to her about boundaries.

"Okay so what movie do you want to watch?" she asked.

"Whatever you want. It's your room so your choice," I said. I honestly could care less what movie we watched. I was glad to be with her.

So was this an impromptu date? I'm sure Alice would roll her eyes at my thought.

Bella walked to a stack of DVD's in the corner of the room. I could see her scratching her head trying to figure out what to watch. Too mesmerized by watching her, I almost didn't see what she picked.

"How about this?" She picked up a DVD and threw it to me.

I caught it and saw the title, _Star Wars: Return of the Jedi_.

Just when I thought I couldn't be more head over heels about this girl, she does something else to reel me further in. I looked up to see her biting her lip nervously, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. I smiled at her to ease her nerves.

"You like _Star Wars_?" I asked in complete awe.

"Uh, yeah. Who doesn't? It's a classic – especially the older versions! I hated the newer ones that just came out. Plus, I love the Ewoks!" she said enthusiastically.

Not only did she liked _Star Wars_, she was excited about it! My inner nerd surfaced, as my mouth hung wide open. I slowly nodded my head in agreement.

As she popped the DVD into the player, I looked around the room and started drumming my fingers on my leg. It's not like we haven't been alone together in her room. We studied numerous times, but this was the first time we would be alone and watching a movie – together. I gulped and ran my hand nervously through my hair.

_Now is not the time to get nervous, idiot!_

My thoughts were rambling and then I heard Bella speak, "Edward, I'm going to throw on some sweats. I hope you don't mind. This skirt Alice forced me in to is just so uncomfortable."

She looked down at her skirt and wiggled her hips. I don't know if she was uncomfortable in that skirt, but she looked extremely sexy. It made it difficult to keep my mind and eyes off her hips and legs.

I didn't realize I was staring until she looked up and caught me. I could feel my cheeks heating up as I nodded my head in agreement. I wasn't even sure what I was agreeing to, so I looked away completely embarrassed.

_Damn it! Get a grip!_

She strolled into the bathroom, grabbing a pair of grey sweatpants and a black t-shirt with her. As soon as the door closed, I slapped my hands to my face rubbing my cheeks.

_What am I going to do?_

I mentally went through an internal pep talk trying to calm my nerves and think of ways not to screw this up. I was so close. Then I thought of the only thing that could help me right now. I pulled out my cell phone and texted ... Alice.

_"Help me!"_

Within seconds, I received a reply.

_"You're on your own my young apprentice! I want full details later tonight! Muahahah! =)"_

I slammed my phone shut mentally cursing my evil pixie sister. I quickly went to Bella's desk, pulled out the two pints of ice cream from the brown paper bag, and placed them on her nightstand. I looked over and saw all the photos on her wall. There were pictures of Bella and Rose growing up through the years. Bella was adorable as a kid just as much as she is today. There were also pictures of her and Emmett. It amazed me that they could be siblings with Emmett being so big and Bella being so small. Then there were a lot of pictures of her and Jasper. I felt a pang of jealousy. She did tell me that there was nothing between them. And, Jasper is my sister's boyfriend so I didn't have anything to worry about, right?

Bella stepped out of the bathroom breaking me out of my trance and causing me to turn toward her. She looked stunning, as always. She could wear a potato sack and still look beautiful. She was wearing a shirt that said "Got Dreams?" which suited her perfectly. She always told me about her daydreams. It made me wonder if there was something more to them and if her tendency to pinch herself had anything to do with it.

She grabbed her pint of ice cream and jumped onto her bed. She sat as close to the wall as possible and then patted the vacant side of the bed with the palm of her hand, motioning for me to sit next to her.

I wasn't sure if that was a good idea because I might not be able to keep myself from jumping on top of her. I could tell she sensed my hesitation as she said, "Rose would kill you if you got ice cream on her bed so this is the only option. The desk chair would be too uncomfortable and the bean bag is too low."

She was right about Rose. I would never want to get her mad. I just wasn't sure if Bella _wanted_ to sit next to me or if this was just the only option.

I walked to the side of her bed and sat down next to her. I was so nervous about making her feel uncomfortable that I completely tensed up. She started the movie and it took a few minutes for me to relax a little. I could smell a strong scent of lavender and vanilla coming from Bella, instantly calming my nerves.

_I could definitely get used to this._

We started to eat our ice cream in silence while watching the television intently. I decided it was time for me to probe with a few questions.

_"Ask her the Star Wars question!"_ Mark's voice filtered into my head.

Mark was a huge _Star Wars_ fan. During our sophomore year, he gave an entire lesson to the football team about how _Star Wars_ can help you gather information about girls. I scoffed at the idea at the time and I honestly thought that I would never use his "test" questions. Never say never.

I felt slightly mortified for even asking, but apparently it was the ultimate question to ask girls because you can gauge what kind of guy the girl is attracted to just by their answer.

"Who do you like better? Luke Skywalker or Hans Solo?" I blurted out without thinking.

"Hans Solo hands down," she answered quickly and confidently.

According to Mark's philosophy, her answer meant that she liked darker haired guys. This was a plus for me, and my heart started to beat faster in response.

_"After that, make a statement about what other girls like to get the real answer because we all know that girls conform to what other girls say," _Mark's voice sounded in my head from the distant memory.

"Really? Most girls like Luke Skywalker because of the blond hair and blue eyes," I pressed on trying to test her again.

"Well, that's not my type. Besides there's just something dreamy about Harrison Ford when he was younger," she sighed. I smiled at her. It was in my favor after all.

_"And then ask her the Chewbacca question. This will tell you to either stay or run for the hills!"_ Mark's voice continued on.

"Okay then what about Chewbacca? Annoying or Funny?" I asked.

"Annoying. I can't stand that screech he does," she said. I sighed in relief to her answer. If she said he was funny, I may have had to re-think this whole thing.

Then she started to mimic the Chewbacca's screech.

"WAAHHH. Seriously, what is that?" she said.

_Holy guacamole! Did she just mimic Chewbacca's screech? _

She froze, probably because I was gaping at her, and I couldn't help but laugh. She smiled and imitated Chewbacca again as I clutched my stomach tightly. I laughed so hard that my stomach hurt. Who knew that she was so funny?

"Okay, I have a question." Her voice lingered in the air as my laughter died down. I looked into her eyes and they grew serious.

"Shoot," I replied, curious as to what question she would ask me.

"What is with Princess Leia and the gold bikini? Is that really every boy's fantasy? I mean I saw it on _Friends_ and it made me laugh, but really?" she asked sounding completely bewildered.

I could not believe she asked me that question and I laughed even harder than before. I could feel tears coming to my eyes. I would never answer that question. That was sacred to the male code.

"You'd have to be a guy to understand," I answered with a smug smile. She rolled her eyes at me as she pouted her bottom lip slightly. She was endearing when she didn't get what she wanted.

Our attention turned back to the movie again, but I couldn't concentrate on it. All I could think about were Mark's words or Alice's screaming telling me to hurry up and ask her on a date, but I knew I couldn't rush things. I had to take my time, warm up the water a little bit, right?

Then I thought of something. I never really flirted with anyone before, but apparently, I did it on a daily basis with my fan club – not that I even knew what I was doing. I really had no clue, but evidently, my smiles were "more than friendly", according to Steve.

It was now or never and I decided to take the plunge. I reached over and grabbed some of her ice cream with my spoon.

"Hey!" She said reaching out to slap my hand away but missed.

I laughed and shoved it quickly into my mouth.

"Wow, this flavor is really good. I can see why you like it! Yum!"

"Oh yeah, well two can play at that game," she said as she reached her spoon over to my pint and grabbed some of my ice cream.

I tried to stop her from putting the spoon in her mouth as I grabbed her hand. I could feel the instant electricity and yearned for it. I struggled with her a bit until she shoved the spoon into her mouth.

"Mmmmm … this is good!" she said with a laugh.

After a few minutes, she tried to steal my ice cream again so I offered to switch flavors with her. She didn't seem disgusted by it – another positive.

Once we had our fill of the ice cream, I took both containers and put them in the freezer. When I plopped myself back onto the bed, I could see her from the corner of my eye. Her eyes were drooping signalling that she was getting tired. I mentally kicked myself for not asking her on a date sooner.

_You can't ask a girl who is asleep, moron!  
_

I saw her head slowly bobbing. When I felt her head hit against my shoulder, I stayed perfectly still letting her sleep. I struggled inside with whether to leave or stay for the rest of the movie. I desperately wanted to stay with her as long as possible, but I couldn't let her not sleep because I was there. So of course, my guilt won. I knew it was time for me to leave.

"Bella?" I asked.

"Hmmm," she hummed in a sleepy haze.

"I should probably go. You're getting tired," I sighed.

"No, I'm fine!" she said bolting straight up and opening her eyes wide to show me that she wasn't tired.

"See. Not tired!" She pointed to her eyes, but I could tell she was trying hard to force them open.

Did she not want me to leave? My heart swelled at that thought. I laughed at her attempt to stay awake. The time was now. I paused the movie and turned to look at her.

"What?" she asked, her voice full of concern. I wasn't sure how to take that, but I decided to keep going. My hands were sweating and I could feel myself shaking from my nerves.

"I have something that I've wanted to ask you for awhile now," I said.

"What is it Edward?" she asked. Her voice was calm, but she avoided my gaze. It was making me even more nervous because she wasn't looking at me. What if she only wants to be friends? It was already too late as I began to dig my own grave.

"Um, I don't know how to say this," I said running a hand through my hair. I couldn't look her in the eyes as I asked, and I knew I couldn't look at her face when she answered. If she said no, it would feel like someone yanked my heart out from my chest.

_Just say it!_

"Bella, w-would you go o-out to dinner with me next Saturday?" I practically stuttered out.

"Yes," she said.

She said YES!!

I looked at her with wide eyes and nearly shouted, "Great! It's a date then!"

She was silent for a few minutes and I wasn't sure if my last statement scared her. She looked dazed. She reached over and pinched her arm.

"Ow!" she yelped and jumped from where she was sitting.

The pinching was starting to get to me. What was that all about?

"Why did you do that? I saw you do it earlier with the bats and Jasper did it to you when they announced the Homecoming Queen nominations," I asked eyeing her inquisitively but it was slightly funny.

Her face turned bright red. "Well, you remember how I told you about the daydreams right? I tend to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. And … apparently, I'm not!" she almost screamed excitedly. I laughed at her excitement because she seemed thrilled that she wasn't dreaming, but did she want to go on a date with me? What did she think I was going to I ask?

I knew I had to ask that question to get everything out in the open.

"So are you okay that it's a date?" I enquired.

"YES!" she bellowed loudly. Then she slapped her hand over her mouth and muttered a sorry.

What did she have to be sorry about? I was overjoyed by her response. Bella Swan wanted to go on a date with me! I flashed her a smile and tried hard to hold back my laughter at her eagerness. If only she knew how eager I was.

"Great! I'll pick you up at 7pm then, next Saturday," I said.

"Okay," she squeaked.

I glanced at the clock on her nightstand and realized that it was late. I shouldn't be keeping her up since she was still recovering from her illness.

"It's getting late. I should go back to my room," I mumbled.

"We haven't finished the movie yet!" she whined.

"We can finish it next time," I offered hoping that she would want to do this again a second time.

"Okay," she said while jumping off her bed. I stood up and gathered my things as she walked me to the door. She opened the door as I shuffled out of the room. The hallways were still deserted and I was glad for the privacy.

I had remembered that Alice told me to ask Bella to come to the charity car wash tomorrow. I was planning to ask her yesterday at lunch but didn't get a chance.

"Are you busy tomorrow?" I asked.

"No, not really. I'm just working on college apps. Why?" she said.

"Well, the football team is having their annual charity car wash, and I was wondering if you wanted to come help out. Alice, Rose and Jasper are coming too. I know that you're still getting over the flu, so you don't have to come if you don't want to," I answered.

"No, it sounds like fun. I'll be there." A big grin broke out across her face.

"Great. I had a lot of fun tonight Bella. Good night! I'll see you tomorrow," I said returning her smile.

_"Don't kiss her on the forehead again, Ed-ward!"_ Alice's voice hissed at me in my head.

I decided to go for it. So I leaned in toward her. I felt her freeze next to me, probably unsure of what I was going to do. I wasn't sure if I should stop and step away, but my gut told me to keep going. I lowered my face to her cheek and pressed my lips against it. I thought I heard her take in a deep breath. I stepped away as she beamed, "Good night, Edward!"

I walked down the hall and jumped up pumping my fist in the air. She said yes! We were finally going to go on a date!!

I practically skipped down the stairs and ran outside wanting to scream at the top of my lungs. As I got outside, I started to walk toward my dorm and looked up at Bella's window.

I thought I saw something moving around, but I wasn't sure what it was. I stopped walking to get a better view of what was moving around in her window. Then I saw a glimpse of her dancing around her room. She seemed extremely happy which made a goofy smile spread across my face. I watched, completely enthralled, as she jumped up and down. I could faintly hear _"Shake It"_ by _Metro Station_ coming from her room. I started to laugh to myself as I watched a beautiful angel dancing around in her room.

"What are you looking at?" Rose asked breaking me out of my stare.

"Oh nothing." I jumped quickly looking away from the window hoping that she didn't catch me.

"Bye, Rose," I said while walking back to my dorm as quickly as I could.

"Bye, Edward," she replied sounding puzzled to my haste reaction.

I didn't want her to catch me watching Bella through her window. God, I sounded like a stalker.

I walked up to my dorm building and through the main lobby to the elevator. I rode up the elevator to my floor and stepped out into the hallway. Music was blaring loudly from all different directions and there were guys in the hallway passing footballs and playing around.

I walked past Emmett and Jasper's room where _"What's the Difference"_ by _Dr. Dre_ was playing loudly. Emmett was a huge fan of rap and hip-hop. There were times when he actually thought he was a rapper. We had to endure those times in the locker room during practice. The door was open wide and as I walked past the door, I felt someone grab the back of my shirt and yank me inside.

"Gah!" I yelled.

"So E ... how did it go?" Emmett shouted over the loud music and narrowed his eyes at me. He let go of the back of my shirt and I straightened myself out.

When I didn't answer, he prodded for more information, "Well, did you ask her?"

"Yeah, I did," I answered.

"AND?!" he stressed.

"She said yes," I replied trying to act cool.

"Good," he smiled at me, but then his face turned serious.

"Just remember, you hurt her and I kill you, got that?" he threatened.

I nodded and silently gulped in fear as his face turned into a smile again.

"So what did you two do, huh?" Emmett asked wriggling his eyebrows.

**RING! RING! **

I fumbled through my sweatpants to find my cell phone in my pocket. Saved by the cell phone. Phew!

I would've told him what we did. Not because anything inappropriate happened, but because I wanted to save myself from Emmett's teasing. And, for some stupid reason, I knew he would find to make fun of me.

"Hey Alice," I said as I put my phone to my ear. I used my hand to signal to Emmett that I couldn't hear her over the loud music and that I was going to leave the room. He nodded and then went back to singing along with the song while perfecting his rap motions.

As I walked to my room, Alice teased, _"So Edward, how was your night?" _

"Things went well," I answered.

_"Well? Who the hell talks like that? So did you ask her or not?"_ She cut straight to the point.

"Yeah, we're going out next Saturday," I replied smugly as I opened up my dorm room door and turned on the lights. _Wait for it…_

_"Yay!"_ she screamed loudly into the phone causing me to pull it away from my ear. _"You finally manned up! YES! I'm so proud!"_ she continued, squealing.

"I knew I had to do it soon," I said while closing the door behind me. I flopped into my desk chair.

_"Yeah, took you long enough but I'm glad you finally did it! What did you two do then?"_ she asked.

"We watched _Star Wars: Return of the Jedi_. She started getting tired so I left to let her sleep."

_"Wait ... you didn't ask her those stupid lame __Star Wars questions that Mark told you about, did you?"_ she squeaked.

_Stupid, lame questions? Oh shit!_

"I, uh, yeah. Why?" I admitted.

_"OH MY GOD! I cannot believe you asked her that. Didn't I teach you anything? Never talk about Star Wars to a girl. She probably thinks you're a big dork!" _she exclaimed.

"But she likes _Star Wars_. We had fun talking about it," I explained.

_"Are you sure she liked it and not just you?"_

"Yes, I'm sure. Alice, she really does like the movies. She's the one who picked it out to watch, not me."

There was a dead silence and then loud squealing. _"Oh my God! I knew she was perfect for you!! Now you just have to go on your date, sweep her off her feet, make her your girlfriend, and you're all set!"_ she chimed.

"Alice, it's a lot harder than it sounds, you know that right?" I sighed.

_"Don't worry, Edward. You have me, remember?"_ she said confidently as if that solved all my problems and worries. I rolled my eyes and ignored her comment.

"She's coming to the car wash tomorrow," I said.

_"And you're telling me this NOW?! I have so much to plan before tomorrow. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"_ she scolded.

"Alice, what are you talking about?" I was confused.

_"There's no time! I have to go. I'll see you later, but just know that you better thank me for what's going to happen tomorrow!" _she said quickly and then hung up.

O-kay ... that was odd. I knew Alice was always cryptic but this definitely topped it. What was she planning?

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**A/N: What did you think? Jacob deserved the pounding right?! Did you like how I incorporated Mark and his geekiness to this? I think Mark is one of my favorite side characters. The computer nerd who likes to play computer games and loves Star Wars! **

**And yay! Edward finally did it! At least now you got to see what went on through his head during that movie night. **

**Next Chapter ... Car Wash ... and maybe some new stuff. Still thinking it through ...**

**Please Review and Thanks for Reading!!  
**


	13. Paparazzi

**A/N: I know I have been MIA but I have been going nuts with weddings right now. You can check out my LJ if you're curious as to what's been going on in my life. The link is in my profile.  
**

**My wonderful beta, SavageWoman, has offered to help me go back and revise my chapters for KRCP and RCP. So we're going back to make a few changes. Nothing that would change the storyline but just a few tweaks here and there. I've already posted Chapter 1 for KRCP and Chapter 1 and 2 for RCP. ****Thanks again to the best beta, SavageWoman, for helping me with this chapter!!**

**You must read Ridge Crest Prep first or this story won't make any sense. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Twilight. ****I do own the storyline and any characters that I make up.**

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**Chapter 13 – Paparazzi**

Song – Paparazzi by Lady Gaga

* * *

**THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! **

"Wake up, Cullen!" Scott's deep voice rumbled through the other side of my door. I could hear his footsteps as he walked down the hall making his rounds, getting everyone up, and out of bed for the annual car wash.

I wasn't looking forward to the car wash until Bella decided to participate. Every year I felt like I was at some sort of meat market being ogled and drooled over. It was one of the more popular events at school aside from the school dances. Every year I sucked it up because it was a fundraiser and helped raise money for charity.

I slowly opened my eyes and rolled over in my bed yawning while stretching out my arms. My mind was still trying to register where I was and what time it was. All it could focus on was last night's dream about my first date with Bella. I couldn't help the big smile that spread across my face.

I jumped out of bed and went into my bathroom to get dressed.

I threw on a pair of navy blue swimming trunks that Alice said made me look like a model. _Whatever that meant._ I only cared about what Bella thought and if she would like it. I looked in the mirror and tried to fix my hair for once but knew it was nearly impossible. It was always unruly and after a few minutes, I got frustrated and gave up.

I grabbed my keys and a beach towel and walked out the door. Most of the guys gathered in the hallway waiting for people to get up and get dressed.

I saw Jasper standing alone leaning against the wall. Deciding it was time to get to know Bella's best friend and my sister's boyfriend, I walked up to him and gave him a nod.

"Hey, what's up?" I said.

"Hey, Edward. So you finally asked her, huh?" he replied with a smirk.

"Yeah, I did," I admitted with pride that I was finally able to do it.

Just then, Steve came up and slapped me on the back. "All I can say is... nice, man!"

How did everyone know? I must've had a confused look on my face as Jasper answered, "CNN over there told everyone that Bella is off limits now." He nodded his head in Emmett's direction. So that's who CNN was. I kept hearing people referring to someone as CNN, even Alice. I chuckled to myself. CNN was indeed Emmett; the guy couldn't keep a secret for the life of him.

_Wait a minute… What's he saying?_

"He's telling everyone, what?" I asked.

"That she's off limits. Dude, people were too intimated to talk to her before, but now she's all yours. I don't think anyone would go near her now that you've staked your claim," Steve sniggered waggling his eyebrows.

"But what about Jack?" I added.

"So what about him?" Steve asked.

"Well, he did take Bella out last week. Isn't he still interested?" I blurted out. I wasn't sure where Jack stood. We still weren't talking to each other.

"That shouldn't matter. It's obvious she only has eyes for you, man," Steve said punching me in the arm.

Jasper gave me a smile, reassuring me that what Steve said was right. Although, I couldn't be a hundred percent sure until I heard it from Bella herself.

As the group came together, we started making our way outside to the parking lot.

Like every year, there were girls already waiting for us to make an appearance. It didn't take long for the drooling to start as the girls and guys eyed each other in their swimsuits. I tried to ignore everyone in sight. To keep my mind off wondering when Bella would show up, I got busy setting up for the long day.

After I was done, I walked over to Brian, Scott and Mark. They were standing to the side of the parking lot huddled together in what looked like deep conversation. Then I saw Brian walk away with Scott and Mark staring after him.

I walked up to Mark and Scott and asked, "What's going on?"

"Shhh... Just watch." Mark nodded his head in Brian's direction. I watched closely as Brian walked past a group of girls. He wasn't really walking normal. He was swaying his shoulders from side to side like he was trying to be cool but he looked more like he had some sort of shoulder spasm.

Who did he think he was? Eminem? I thought that was Emmett's M. O.

I saw some of the girls in the group giggle, staring after him before whispering to each other.

"I don't get it," I replied scratching my head in confusion.

"Cullen, he just did _the_ walk," Scott said as if that was the obvious answer to my question.

"What is _the _walk?" I asked again raising my eyebrows.

Scott and Mark stared at me with shocked expressions on their faces. Scott nudged Mark and nodded with a knowing expression in my direction.

"Cullen doesn't know about _the_ walk. You explain it to him," Scott scoffed to Mark sounding appalled that I had no idea what it was.

"Edward, _the_ walk is what some of us have to do to find out if girls are interested in us. You know not all of us have a fan club like you, so this is our only way of finding out who could potentially be interested. That way we can make a move without having to be completely rejected," Mark explained.

"Oh," I answered lamely. I was slightly embarrassed for having to ask, but I honestly had no idea what they were doing. But did girls really think that was cool? God, I hoped I would never have to resort to doing that around Bella.

Brian walked back to us with a big grin plastered across his face. "So any potentials?" he asked excitedly.

They went on discussing who might be interested. I just laughed at their on-going crazy attempts at getting attention from girls. I walked over to Emmett who was standing next to Jasper.

"Eddie-boy, I can't believe you don't know what _the_ walk is," Emmett chastised, "I guess it's because you never had to work for it until Bella." He broke into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

I scowled at him feeling particularly annoyed with him this morning. Though he was a great guy, there were times he was like an irritating older brother.

"So have you heard from any scouts yet?" I wanted to change the subject and stop him from laughing his ass off at my expense.

His laughter faded and his face grew serious. "Coach said that Penn State and Notre Dame expressed an interest but I'm still holding out for USC. I need to keep my grades up this year in order to get accepted at any of these schools," he sighed.

USC was Emmett's first choice to play college football. He talked about it every minute of every day. I hoped he would get drafted, not only for his sake, but also for the sake of everyone else. I wouldn't want to know how he'd act if he didn't get picked to play for his dream team.

"With Bella's help, I'm sure you'll have no problem with your grades, Em. She is ...," I was going to say smart or brilliant but instead my mouth betrayed me and I blurted out, "amazing."

_God, I sounded like such a tool. Did I really just slip right there in front of her brother of all people?_

Emmett waved his hand in front of my face. "Dude, earth to Eddie..."

I swatted his hand away. "You are so whipped and you haven't even gone on your date yet. Man, this is freaking hilarious!" Emmett bent over with laughter again with Jasper chiming in.

I glowered at them and walked toward Jenny and Steve who were starting to work on a Buick La Sabre that pulled into the parking lot. It belonged to a sixty-year-old woman who came every year. Whether she was here for the cheap car wash or to ogle all the young guys washing her car, I couldn't say. I'd like to think it was the former.

From the corner of my eye I saw Lauren and her group of minions walk through the parking lot surveying all of the guys like we were prey ready to be eaten. I nearly cringed. They never helped at any of the car washes. Oh, the horror of breaking a nail! I silently rolled my eyes at that thought.

Then I spotted Lauren striding in my direction. Jenny and Steve noticed and tried desperately to block her access to me.

"Move out of my way! Idiots!" Lauren snapped with her screeching voice glaring at Jenny and Steve. Jenny sighed and shrugged her shoulders throwing me an apologetic look. They stepped to the side allowing Lauren to walk right up to me.

She was a little too close for my liking, so I took a few steps back. Unfortunately, Lauren took a few steps forward trying to inch closer to me. As I took a few more steps back, she matched me again and took another few steps forward. It looked like we were dancing – not that I would ever do that.

I finally put out my hands in front of me to keep her from getting closer.

"What do you want, Lauren?" I asked with an annoyed voice.

"Nothing." She batted her eyelashes at me so fast that it seemed like she had something stuck in her eye.

"I just wanted to tell you that I like what I see," she waggled her eyebrows and looked me up and down. I suddenly wished that I had worn a t-shirt to cover myself.

Luckily, Steve sprayed the rim of a tire causing some cold water to splash on her leg.

She screamed loudly and then turned to Steve with fury in her eyes. "Watch it, loser!" she yelled and then stalked off toward her group but not before blowing me a kiss in my direction. I wanted to hurl as my face curled up in disgust.

"I can't get over how rude she is to everyone. Why does she always have to be such a bitch?" I turned to Jenny and Steve rolling my eyes.

"Don't worry about it. We're used to her craziness!" Jenny replied as Steve shook his head at the situation.

We went back to focus on washing the car. I noticed that Jack was talking to Stacy and they seemed close. I wasn't sure what that meant and if Jack was no longer a threat.

After a few minutes, I heard Mike say rather loudly, "Sweet Merciful Jesus!"

When the catcalls and whistles started, I turned to look in the direction everyone was staring. Low and behold, there was Alice, Rose and Bella in bikinis, walking across the parking lot.

I froze in place staring at Bella. She was wearing the Princess Leia gold bikini. My mouth dropped open hitting the ground. I wasn't sure if the amazing sight before me was a dream. But, the beautiful goddess dressed in gold sent my fantasies running wild.

Just then, a catcall brought me back down to earth and I wanted to kill Alice for putting Bella in this situation with all the guys leering at her. It didn't help that I wanted rip every guy that looked at her a new one.

Even as I watched Jasper and Emmett walk over to greet the girls, all I could do was stare.

I felt Steve nudge my shoulder and whisper, "You can close your mouth now, Edward."

_Was I that obvious? _

"Go over there and get her before someone else does." He pushed me in Bella's direction.

Slowly my feet started to walk over to her but my mind was still churning. I had to get my thoughts out of the gutter quickly.

Emmett did something that made Rose upset as she took off running after him. Jasper grabbed Alice and walked off with her hand in hand, leaving Bella standing there alone.

As I walked toward her, I was fully able to admire her and the gold bikini. She was wearing brown shorts, which helped cover her up slightly, but my eyes wouldn't stop raking over her body.

I started thinking of Calculus and integrals to get the dirty thoughts out of my mind. I looked into her eyes and noticed that she was staring at my chest. She looked up at me and quickly looked away embarrassed that I caught her staring. My heart raced knowing that she was checking me out as well and I knew Alice would've high-fived me for it.

But then Bella made a face that looked like she ate something sour. What was that about?

I wasn't sure and I didn't have much time to think about it. I gave her a big smile and could see that she relaxed instantly.

I handed her a sponge and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Nice outfit, Princess. What about the buns?"

As soon as the word 'buns' left my mouth, I groaned internally hoping Bella realized I was talking about the Princess Leia hairdo and not her backside. It just kind of slipped out and I didn't realize how it sounded until it was too late. I silently sucked in a breath and waited for her reaction. This could go downhill quickly if she took it the wrong way. I wanted to kick myself.

She smacked me in the arm as I laughed out loud. I looked at her and breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't seem to notice the double meaning of my statement.

"Alice got me this ridiculous outfit saying how she had a feeling about it. You didn't put her up to this did you?" she hissed and gave me the evil eye.

I didn't put Alice up to it but I know Alice got the _Star Wars_ clue from our phone conversation last night. I wasn't about to admit that.

"It wasn't me! I swear! Alice has feelings about things sometimes. It's really weird but that's just Alice. But when she does, she really sticks with it," I was telling the truth. I just wasn't giving her all the details.

"Okay, fine! Just know that I am not happy about this," she huffed and crossed her arms against her chest. It was adorable and I couldn't stop myself from leaning down again and whispering into her ear, "You know you're really cute when you get angry."

I was never this forward with anyone but somehow she brought that out of me. I saw a hint of red making its way up to her cheeks. Did I make her feel uncomfortable?

I cleared my throat and asked, "So um, are you ready?" I was starting to get nervous like I always did when I was around her.

My voice came out slightly quivered and I wanted to smack myself. I hoped that she wouldn't notice my awkwardness. We walked over to Steve and Jenny working on a black Toyota Camry.

We started washing the cars and I had to try with all my might to stay focused on the car and not Bella. I noticed most of the guys watching Bella and I almost wanted pull out my beach towel and shield her from their roaming eyes.

Soon after, Lauren came over to bug us about why Bella was helping. I came to Bella's defense sensing Lauren's jealously. I wanted Lauren to leave right then and there but she wouldn't take the hint. Rose and Emmett joined in on the conversation and eventually, Brian made a rude comment addressed to Lauren, which got her and her group of robots to walk away leaving us alone.

As the hours passed, we continued washing cars. Bella was talking to Jenny and Steve as Brian came over to me waggling his eyebrows.

"Dude, you need to get your game on. There are all these guys out here checking Bella out. Do something!" Brian whispered urgently.

"Like what? I've practically glued myself to her side this entire time," I retorted.

"Edward, you're a smart guy. Girls like it when you pay attention to them. Flirt with her. Think about it. Don't hesitate, just do it!" He slapped my back and walked away.

I wasn't sure what to do. As Bella started washing the trunk of a blue Nissan Altima, I looked at the hose in my hand and smiled mischievously.

I started chasing after her trying to spray her with water while she retaliated in kind with water balloons. Alice had to be the one that gave them to her. We ran around chasing each other and it was fun.

After a good ten minutes, Bella grabbed a bucket of water trying to aim it at me but ended up hitting Lauren instead. Lauren started screaming at the top of her lungs. It was only water but you'd think it was acid from her reaction.

Bella closed her eyes and cringed at the screaming. When she slowly opened her eyes, they grew wide when she saw Lauren, drenched.

"SWAN!" Lauren screamed at the top of her lungs.

"I'm so sorry! I thought you were Edward," Bella choked out.

I stood there like an idiot just staring at what happened. I would've rolled on the ground with laughter, but I knew that Bella felt bad and Lauren was being a bitch. I was about to defend Bella when Lauren yelled, "You! UGH! Oh, you are so going to get it!" Then she stormed off to her dorm as Emmett and Brian sang, "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead."

I looked at Bella and saw her face fall into a frown and her shoulders slump. I could tell she was upset and I wanted to kill Lauren for getting in the way.

Lauren's threat was definitely something to worry about. I knew the malicious things Lauren did and I had a sick feeling that Bella was going to be a major target.

Brian went over to reassure Bella that everything was okay by patting her on the back and giving her a thumbs up.

I walked toward her and tried to cheer her up by saying, "Did anyone ever tell you that you have a good aim?"

_Was that the best thing I could come up with?_ Even I wanted to slap myself for that one.

She groaned, "I really thought I got you. I can't believe it was Lauren instead. I am so dead."

"Don't worry about it. We're all here to protect you," I said giving her a reassuring smile.

Her shoulders were still slumped and I knew I didn't make her feel much better. Could things get any worse?

**

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It was Monday morning. I went to grab the _Ridge Crest Times_ before class. My mind was telling me not to look at Tanya's column but my hands immediately flipped to it. I wanted to find out more about Jack and Bella. My curiosity was killing me. There was a special section covering Team Edella and Team Beck. There was a scoreboard giving us points and telling us which team was winning. Team Edella was leading thirty to five. I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the entire situation as I scanned the photos.

There were more pictures of Bella and me interacting with each other over the past week but very little of her and Jack, which was a good sign. There was one photo of Bella and Jack talking at _TGI Friday's_ and I wondered when they had the chance to talk. I practically watched her the entire night – not that I was a stalker. But I was worried about her especially after the altercation with Jacob. From the background of the photo, it looked like they were standing next to the restrooms. It probably happened before Jacob stopped her. _What were they talking about?_ The green eyed monster was slowly emerging and I tried hard to push the jealous thoughts away. From the car wash yesterday, it seemed like Jack was over Bella, but I still wasn't entirely sure.

I finished reading the paper and put Bella's column in the bottom of my desk drawer. I grabbed my book bag, slung it over my shoulder, and walked out of the room.

Scott emerged from his room looking like he just rolled out of bed. He gave me a silent nod as I stepped into the elevator with him followed by Brian, Emmett and Jack. It was silent in the elevator and I knew that everyone was still trying to wake up. It was the first day of the week.

We stepped outside the dorms and into the chilly air. It was still early but I could see some students walking around. I noticed a bunch of white pieces of paper that littered the school grounds.

"What the hell? Did it snow or something?" Emmett asked as he rubbed his eyes. Alice and Jasper walked up to our group and joined us.

"What is all of this?" Alice asked bending down to pick up a piece of paper. She gasped loudly staring speechless at the paper. I raised an eyebrow confused at her reaction. Alice was never at a loss for words. Jasper looked over her shoulder and froze.

Just then, Seth came running over to us with a stack of papers in his arms. "Edward, Emmett, you have to see this."

He handed us both a piece of paper, which I perused. It was a picture of Rose and Bella standing in what looked like a gym locker room. They were wearing their undergarments with the words "Whores and Sluts" written across it along with their phone numbers and a line that said, "For a Good Time Call..."

_I saw red!_

"THAT BITCH!" Emmett bellowed so loudly that it echoed across the quad scaring a few freshmen in our area. "I'm going to Ki–" Emmett took off running toward Lauren's dorm, but Scott grabbed onto him and held him back.

"Not if I get to her first!" I yelled as my anger bubbled over. Rose and Bella did not deserve this. No one did. And I knew exactly who it was behind it all.

I could feel the waves of anger rolling off Jasper as he silently fumed.

"Lauren's going to regret this," I growled with bitterness.

"Damn straight!" Jack yelled and I could tell he was just as upset as the rest of us, and I wasn't sure if it was because he still had feelings for Bella.

"I can't believe she would do this," Alice gritted through her teeth.

"I tried to pick up as many as I could," Seth said.

Emmett cooled down a little but he immediately went into captain mode.

"Seth, gather the teams. We need everyone to start cleaning this up now," Emmett demanded as Seth nodded in agreement and ran off to gather the teams.

Stacy and Jenny came over with a stack of papers in their hands as well, clearly trying to help clean up the mess.

"Jenny, can you have the rest of the cheerleaders, aside from the bitch, help clean this up?" Emmett asked calmly.

"Of course, Emmett," Jenny answered running off with Stacy stopping to pick up papers along the way.

Lauren had done a lot of horrible things done over the years – mean things – but this was one of the worst. I was not about to let this go.

"Jasper Hale and Emmett Swan!" Ms. Dalton's unpleasant voice yelled from the end of the walkway causing all of us to jump.

Jasper and Emmett turned toward her. She crossed her arms against her chest and impatiently tapped her foot. She had one of the fliers crumbled in her angry fist and she looked extremely upset. She couldn't possibly believe they had anything to do with this, could she?

"Principal Walker needs to see you two immediately. He wants to see your sisters as well. Please follow me," she narrowed her eyes at them and motioned for them to follow her to the Principal's office.

"Edward, can you make sure that this gets cleaned up before Rose or Bella see this?" Emmett asked before following toward Ms. Dalton while fuming Jasper trailed behind him.

"I'll take care of it," I said as they walked off disappearing around the corner.

Alice and I, along with the rest of the guys, started cleaning up the mess. We spread out to cover a larger area. I noticed a group of sophomore boys standing in the corner gawking at the fliers. When I saw a few start to take out their cell phones, I quickly walked over to them with a scowl on my face. I grabbed the fliers from their hands and threw then into the closest trash bin. I must have surprised them because they jumped back in fright.

"Don't even think about it!" I yelled as they eyed the trashcan before scurrying away from my death glare.

I could see Jack and a few of the others doing the same to some other guys as well. Ms. Dalton's voice came over the loud speaker calling Rose and Bella down to the office. I began to worry. I could only imagine Bella's reaction when she found out about all of this. I know when she fainted when Lauren yelled at her in the cafeteria it was because she was sick. But this attack was different, vicious. I hoped that she wouldn't suffer through another panic attack. Lauren would not want to know what I was capable of if anything bad happened to Bella.

After half an hour passed, Emmett and Jasper came back. Rose and Bella weren't with them, and I figured it was probably because they were still upset and needed some time alone.

"Is Bella okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, she's fine," said Emmett reassuring me. I would've asked about Rose but I knew she could hold her own. He told us that we had the next two hours off from classes to clean up the mess. We went around covering as much ground as we could.

After two hours passed, I grabbed the last pile of fliers and dumped it into the nearest trashcan. Jasper walked over to where I was and chucked his stack into the same bin.

"She's stronger than you think, Edward," he said eyeing my facial expression. He could tell I was worried about her.

I nodded at him acknowledging that I had heard him, my mind still focused on Bella and her reaction. The group started to gather, and I saw the girls pulling Bella and Rose into hugs. I wanted to comfort her as much as I could but I wasn't in a place to do that to Bella – yet. She looked so weak, fragile with her shoulders slumped, and her head cast down. I knew she was extremely embarrassed. I could tell by the red that had stained her cheeks while she avoided eye contact with all of the guys including me.

Emmett started to strategize a way to prove that Lauren was the one responsible for this mess and I hoped that it would work.

As the group broke to clean up the rest of the mess, the bell rang and everyone separated to go off to third period. Bella didn't speak to anyone as she headed off to English. I wasn't sure if she wanted any company but I decided to walk next to her to watch over her. I didn't want any random guys to come up and bother her. She didn't seem to notice me and she looked caught up in her thoughts. I thought I would give her a moment before I spoke.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my voice laced with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said quickly.

"That was really horrible what Lauren did," I seethed. I wanted to bad mouth Lauren but decided to keep it to myself. Bella didn't need to hear it. She nodded her head and continued looking straight ahead avoiding eye contact with me.

"Bella, I know you're upset about it. Did you want to talk about it?" I asked.

She stopped walking and closed her eyes. "I am upset about it but I just want to forget that it happened. It's embarrassing enough as it is. So please don't worry, I'll be fine," she pleaded.

She took a deep breath trying to control her breathing and blinked a few times as if she was trying to keep her tears at bay. I wanted to grab her into a hug and stroke her hair to help calm her down. I wanted to take her sadness away, but I knew it wasn't my place, and I silently cursed myself for not making Bella mine sooner.

"Okay, I'm just worried about you," I said softly hoping she would open her eyes to see that I truly cared for her.

When she did open her big brown eyes, I could see them glistening with tears.

"I'm fine, Edward. I just don't want to think about it. Let's talk about something else, okay?" she asked.

I nodded my head and we continued walking toward class. I tried my best to get her mind off things by asking her about homework and upcoming projects. I knew it wasn't the best topic to talk about in a situation like this, but I couldn't think of anything else. I wasn't sure if something humorous would be fitting or if it would be better to talk about classes.

Soon after, she appeared more relaxed and I was glad I was able to help calm her down. After third period, I walked Bella to gym making sure she got there without anyone harassing her. She seemed to be in better spirits and I hoped that by lunch she would be okay.

I figured my ASB meeting could wait while I went off on a witch-hunt. It didn't take much for me to find Lauren. She was actually waiting outside the ASB meeting room door leaning her back against the wall like she always did. It became a routine for her as her class was across the hall.

Each time I would ignore her and walk straight into the ASB room but this time, I had something to say.

She eyed me curiously wondering why I didn't ignore her as usual. I stood in front of her with my hands clenched into fists at my sides. I knew I wouldn't punch her but I desperately wanted to and had to restrain myself.

"What's going on, Eddie?" she asked in fake ignorance with a sly smile curling at her lips.

"You know why I stopped here, Lauren," I growled.

"My answer is YES!" she screamed and jumped up and down in enthusiasm. She tried to reach out and grab my arm as I stepped back from her.

"Wait, WHAT?!" I yelled.

"What the hell are you talking about?" My patience was growing thin. A crowd of my ASB officers had gathered around us watching what was going on.

"You just asked me to Homecoming," she gushed as if she was completely convinced that it just happened.

"Are you delusional? You need to stop with the drugs," I hissed angrily.

"We've been through this before. I will NEVER ask you to Homecoming. I stopped here to talk to you about what you did to Bella and Rose today!" I practically yelled.

"What? How could you possibly think that I had something to do with that, Eddie?" she said feigning innocence, and I wanted to rip her head off.

"Don't lie to me, Lauren. I know it was you and I will find a way to prove it," I threatened.

She walked into her class shaking her head and cackling like a witch. "Oh, Eddie. I would do anything to make you mine," she muttered quietly under her breath probably thinking I couldn't hear her. But her haunting words rang in my ears and caused me to shudder.

I rolled my eyes at the crazy stalker; more determined than ever that we would catch her in her lies. I just hoped it would be sooner rather than later.

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**A/N: Hope you liked it! And _the_ walk is real! My hubby did it in high school with his friends so readers, know that guys really do crazy things like this to get attention from girls. Hahaha ... **

**I'm off to Maui now! And hopefully will update with a new chapter for RCP soon! **

**Please Review and Thanks for Reading!**


	14. I'm Yours

**A/N: It's the holidays ... so that's should be reason enough as to why I've been so late in updating. I have updated RCP so at least I've been good at getting something out! Thanks for being patient with me!! **

**Thanks to my awesome beta, SavageWoman. Without her, I would be completely lost. Seriously. She just started writing again go so check out her new story, Saving a Swan! It's great!!! **

**Now I'm sure everyone has wondered what was going through Edward's mind during their first date. Well, read on below to find out!  
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**You must read Ridge Crest Prep first or this story won't make any sense. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Twilight. ****I do own the storyline and any characters that I make up.**

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**Chapter 14 – I'm Yours**

I'm Yours by Jason Mraz

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After the Lauren mishap this morning, it didn't take long for the team to retaliate. Brian was already up to his old tricks and would do anything to get back at Lauren. Not because of what she did to him but because he cared about Bella and Rose, as we all did.

At lunch, I watched Bella carefully trying to make sure she was okay. She put up a brave front, but the demoralized look in her eyes told a different story, and I couldn't help but feel frustrated that I couldn't help her. Jack happened to sit on the other side of her at the table. _Did I still need to worry about him?_ I wasn't sure if he was still interested in Bella or if he thought of her as a close friend like the rest of the guys. He and Stacy seemed to hit it off at the car wash, but then the Lauren situation happened and he seemed just as mad as I was. And, I _knew_ how _I_ felt about Bella.

After Biology class and walking Bella to the newspaper office, Alice cornered me in the hallway.

"Edward, since when did you get to be _so_ good?" she chirped.

"Excuse me?" I asked completely unaware of what she was talking about.

"You asked Bella to study with you for SAT's and to go to the bonfire, all without my help! That's a big step. You are really learning my young Padawan," she said.

"Alice, please don't quote _Star Wars_. It doesn't suit you," I teased.

"Whatever!" She rolled her eyes and then widened them at me.

"You totally racked-up points with Bella! And by you asking her to the bonfire, it's like a second date. You already scored your second date with her and you haven't even gone on your first yet," she squealed while jumping up and down.

"Um, I'm not sure if Bella thinks of the bonfire as a second date." _Though I wish she did. _

"It doesn't matter. Either way she is totally falling for you. We have to make you look good on Saturday. I'll be helping Bella get ready so I'll pick out your clothes for you. Just make sure you do something with that mop top of yours," she chastised.

"Lay off the hair, Alice," I sighed.

She shook her head at me. "Fine. It's always been a mess. Why do I even bother? Well, I have to go – make it work! There are some Homecoming outfits that I need to finish. Ta-Ta!" she called as she turned to walk away. I made my way toward the football stadium.

When I walked into locker room, I heard a booming voice. Emmett.

"Listen up! After what happened today, Rose and Bella have to be accompanied to every class. I've heard the snickers and seen the stares some of these leeches are giving them. I am not about to let these pack of wolves descend on my girlfriend and my little sister," he yelled and his voice echoed against the lockers.

I walked up behind all of the football players gathered around him listening intently to what was going on.

"Edward, I only trust you with Bella," Emmett added while giving me a secretive wink – he failed, his intentions completely obvious. Brian and Steve tried to stifle their laughs. I could hear deflated sighs and "awe, man!" coming from the group.

I was going to volunteer myself even if Emmett hadn't already chosen me to do it. It made me happy to know that he trusted me to protect her. Somehow I don't think he would have the same reaction if he knew about some of my less than brotherly thoughts about her.

**

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During the week, Bella and I spent all of our free time together at the library prepping for SAT's. We were entirely focused on studying…well, more like she was focused. With Bella sitting across from me at our table, I couldn't concentrate on anything but her.

Everyday after football practice, I would find her waiting for me at _our table_ with her nose buried in a textbook. Call me a tool but I looked forward to this and all I wanted was more.

Sometimes I would sneak glances at her and watch her study. I wasn't sure but she never seemed to notice.

As the days passed, the anticipation for our first date started to build. SAT's were nothing compared to the knot forming in my stomach from my stress over the date.

What would I say to her? Where should I take her? It was my first date ever. And I'd never asked my guy friends about it. They would just talk about their own dates in the locker room. Over the years, I got some pointers here and there.

All week Bella kept asking me where I was going to take her but I didn't say a word. Partly because I had an idea in mind but wasn't a hundred percent sure of it. And the other part was because I knew she hated surprises and I loved teasing her about it every second I could.

Should I buy her flowers? That wasn't a question. I knew I would buy her favorite flowers, tulips.

Everything else was just unknown. I needed to find someone to ask. I just didn't know whom. Emmett would surely make fun of me and then probably threaten me if I even so much as laid a finger on her. I wasn't that close with Jasper yet to ask him about personal things. Jack and I still weren't on talking terms, so he was out of the question. Brian was always a goofball and wouldn't be the exact person I would want to talk to about relationship advice.

I stood outside of Steve's dorm room and knocked. Hopefully, he was alone and Jenny wasn't there. I wouldn't be able to talk to him if she was there.

He opened the door and peeked his head outside. He was wearing his glasses. He only wore them when he was studying.

"Hey, Edward. What's up?" he said.

"Hey, man. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions," I hedged, rubbing the back of my neck nervously.

He nodded his head for me to continue. I cleared my throat and looked around.

"Can I come in? It's about Bella," I stated.

Realization dawned on his face as he opened the door wider for me to step in.

"Oh yeah, come on in. No one's here. I'm just studying for SAT's."

"Me too. I just got back from the library," I replied.

"So what's going on with Bella? Is everything okay?" He sat down in his desk chair. I stood leaning against his bed frame. It was propped high like a bunk bed.

It felt so awkward to ask someone else about this, but I considered Steve to be one of my best friends who I knew I could trust. There weren't very many of those around. I didn't want him to think of me as being a pussy, but I knew these were questions I couldn't ask anyone else.

I rubbed the back of my neck again trying to think of what to say.

"Just spit it out, Edward. I won't judge you or make fun of you. We've been best friends since freshmen year," he assured.

_Was I that obvious? Apparently._

"So… my date is tomorrow with Bella and I have no idea what to do. You know that I've never been on a date before," I mumbled a little embarrassed. "What do I say? Where do I take her? What if she thinks I'm an idiot?" I rambled.

"Chill, Edward. For one thing, you don't need to worry so much about it. I mean, what's the problem? Bella obviously digs you," he grinned as if it was the most obvious thing in the world to everyone but me.

I raised my eyebrows at him and he rolled his eyes. "For a guy that has most of the female population lusting after him, you sure are dense."

"Thanks a lot, Steve," I muttered as I was about to turn and walk away.

"Okay, okay! I couldn't resist," he chuckled. "Sorry, dude. I'll be serious now. First of all, stop over-thinking everything. Take her some place you know she'll like and have fun. The main thing is that you want to keep her happy and you don't want to piss her off."

"So taking her to somewhere like _Hooters_ is a big no-no, eh," I smirked waiting for his reaction.

He ignored my comment, but gave me the finger anyway. "I'm assuming that you've been getting to know her more now that you're studying together, so it should be easy for you to figure out where to take her," he continued.

"Wait, how did you–" I started to ask.

"Everyone knows," Steve said, cutting me off with a shrug. "Jenny talks about it all the time and literally squeals. _Squeals_, Edward. She's been bugging me about going on double dates with you two, so can you hurry up already? Or I swear, Jenny will have an aneurism," Steve snapped in fake annoyance.

I laughed out loud. Double dating…

"Alright, but can Bella and I at least get through our first date first?" I asked, still chuckling.

**

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**

Saturday finally arrived – the day of the SAT's and my date with Bella. After spending every night in the library with her studying, I felt more than ready to take the test. My date with her was a different story. I was nowhere near ready for that.

The SAT's went off without a hitch and I sighed in relief. I didn't get a chance to talk to her before the test and when I went to look for her after, I saw Alice, Rose, and Jenny dragging Bella away, giggling, and talking about getting her ready for her date tonight. Why she would need to take six hours to get ready was beyond me. She would still look beautiful even wearing a potato sack.

As the time for the date grew closer, I put on the clothes that Alice picked out for me and went to fix my hair. It wasn't cooperating so I just left it alone. Alice would kill me but, eh. What's she gonna do? Right now, the most important thing to me was Bella.

A quick glance at the clock told me it was almost seven – time to pick her up.

I grabbed the bouquet of tulips that I picked up at the florist after SAT's and headed out the door.

As I walked to Bella's dorm, guys would pass me and nod before smirking at the flowers in my hand. Girls would stare and whisper to each other probably wondering what was going on. I approached the outside of Bella's door and knocked on it lightly.

I took a deep breath trying to calm my nerves. The door flew open and Alice stood in the doorway.

"She's ready but she's having trouble breathing," Alice said shaking her head.

I immediately became concerned as I pushed Alice out of the way and made my way into the room. Jenny and Rose were standing over Bella who was sitting in a chair. She was bent over with her head between her legs. Her hair was all over the place and she was taking deep breaths.

What happened? Was she okay?

"Bella, are you okay?" I asked as I bent over right above her head to check for any signs of damage.

"Gah!" she said as her head shot up and before I could move out of the way, her head slammed directly into my nose.

**WHACK! **

"Ow!" we both yelled in unison. _That was going to leave a mark._ I grabbed onto my nose to hold it, hoping it wasn't broken. That would just ruin the night and I was looking forward to this since freshmen year.

How could I be so stupid for standing over her like that? She was obviously going to sit back up.

Of course then my eyes began to tear, a natural reaction to the impact, so I tried hard to close them so she wouldn't think I was crying. _God, I look like such a wimp! _

"I'm so sorry, Edward! Are you okay? I had no idea you were already here and standing over me," Bella cried.

I opened my eyes and rubbed my nose, which I was sure was red. Could this be any more embarrassing? "No, I'm fine," I insisted as I watched Bella's hands flutter in front of me in distress.

"Are you sure? I think I hit you pretty hard. Do you need me to take you to the medical center? Are you bleeding? Is it broken?" she asked her eyes wide and her voice laced with concern.

The idea of having her bring me to the medical center almost made me laugh. She was tiny and here she thought she hurt me badly.

"No, no. I'm fine, really. I've had worse while playing basketball. Don't worry about it," I reassured. I could tell she was still worried, almost looking like she was about to cry. So I gave her a smile to help ease her concern.

I don't think it helped much, and I thought about the situation again. It was probably the most embarrassing situation that I've ever been in and I couldn't help but start laughing. As I started to laugh, the tension in the air dissipated as Rose, Jenny, Alice, and eventually Bella joined in on the laughter as well.

It was then that I was able to take in all of Bella's beauty. Her hair fell in loose curls around her shoulders. She wore casual clothes and looked relaxed in them. Glad that I convinced Alice to let me do things my way, I could see that Bella looked more comfortable as a result.

I handed her the bouquet of tulips and she give me a big smile in return. Of course, she then questioned how I knew they were her favorite. I smiled at her. I wasn't about to let that cat out of the bag. So I asked if she was ready to go, and before I knew it, we were out the door in a flash.

On our way to the parking lot, I noticed several people staring and whispering. _And so, it begins._ I knew that Bella felt uneasy about that so I started joking around with her hoping to ease her anxiety. She seemed to loosen up a bit as we reached my car.

I got into the driver seat and turned on the car. Immediately, Sonata in A Major by Mozart blared loudly over the speakers. I quickly pushed a button on the CD player to change to a different disc before I started to pull out of the parking lot. I knew that most girls don't like classical music. _Damn! Alice would ream me out for even having that disc in my car._

But, once again, Bella surprised me when she said that she liked the song. She even _knew_ the song and that got me flustered. She actually liked classical music and wanted to write about it in her column. Why didn't I ask her out sooner? So much time wasted.

When we got to Third Street Promenade, I lead her to _Il Fornaio_. As she tried to guess where I was taking her, she spied _Hooters_ and actually said she wanted to go there. She even went so far as to beg, and the little pout she gave me almost broke my resolve. But, the slew of people in line ready to hang me if I did, kept me from going down that road.

"I hope you like Italian," I smirked.

"I love Italian food. This is one of my favorite Italian restaurants!" she chirped. I was glad I made the right decision about this place.

I placed my hand against her back leading her into _Il Fornaio_. An older looking Lauren Mallory-type greeted us. The woman looked at me as if she wanted to eat me and I shuddered internally. As I turned, I saw the cold stare Bella was giving her.

_Was she jealous? _

We sat down in our booth and as the hostess left, Bella rolled her eyes and flipped open the menu in a huff. I couldn't help but rib her a little.

"Is something wrong?" I teased trying to hide my smile.

"No, nothing at all," she replied coolly trying to appear unaffected, but I could tell she was jealous. I flipped open my menu to hide my laughter.

Once I made my choice, I put my menu down and looked at Bella. Wow, she was beautiful and all I could do was stare at her. The sudden urge to tell her overcame me.

"You look beautiful tonight," I blurted out unable to hold back my thoughts. When she rewarded me with a lovely blush, I decided my outburst was all good.

"Thanks. You look pretty good yourself too," she commented shyly as she looked up at me from under her eyelashes.

The desire to lean across the table and kiss her almost overwhelmed me. Of course it was at that moment that

our waiter decided to ruin it by coming up to our table. He looked like a Mike Newton wannabe. He ogled Bella making her uncomfortable and my blood started to boil.

As we ordered, he attempted to flirt with her right in front of me. I wanted to pound his face in right then and there. He eventually left, but I found myself still fuming. But Bella helped get my mind off the sleazy waiter by joking around with me. I marveled at how we both seemed to detect each other's moods so easily.

"How about we play twenty questions until the food comes?" I suggested wanting to know everything about her. Because we were still getting to know each other, I wanted to know specifics like her favorite TV show, movie, color, dessert, etc. I just couldn't seem to get enough.

"Okay," she answered enthusiastically and I hoped she felt the same desire to get to know me.

"I'll go first. What's your favorite color?" I asked. I already knew this answer but I wanted to ask her directly.

"Green," she replied.

Green? That was completely off the spectrum of colors that I would've guessed. When I saw "pink" written boldly across her underwear that day when I walked in on her sleeping, I figured it was her favorite color. Before I knew it, my mind drifted off to that day. Luckily, Bella's voice stopped my mind from going any further into the gutter.

"Why do you look confused?" she asked.

"Oh. I just thought your favorite color was pink," I blurted out without really thinking. Okay – I lied, I was still thinking about how cute her butt looked with the word "pink" stretched across it. Her face scrunched up.

"Why on earth would you think th–" she stopped short and her eyes widened.

"OH MY GOD!" Her outburst caused everyone around us to look at our table. Her face flushed bright red.

"You did see me that day!" she hissed.

Oh Shit! I got caught…_ Damn it, Edward! Do you always have to be such an idiot in front of her?_

"N-No. No. I didn't see you," I stuttered trying to control my reaction, but my red face gave away my bold-faced lie and she called me on it.

"Stop lying Edward! I rarely if ever wear anything that's pink and I don't own anything that's pink. That was the only thing I could think of that would make you think that since the flier that Lauren passed out didn't catch my rear end for all to see. This is so embarrassing," she said slouching back in her seat and rubbing her temples with her hands.

Great! I just had to lie and make it worse. _Good going, MORON! _

I took a deep breath and said, "Please don't be embarrassed. You don't have anything to be embarrassed about. Okay, maybe I caught a quick glimpse and I'm really sorry about that but when those words are so largely written it's hard not to notice it." There I said it. Of course, I wasn't being completely honest. There was no way in hell I would tell her what I really thought when I saw her that day but I hoped it would suffice.

"Oh god! Did you have to rub it in any more?" she said looking down in her lap.

This was going downhill fast. _Why did I have to open up my big mouth? _

I took another deep breath and tried to think of something to fix it. I calmly reached over to lift up her chin so that I could see her eyes.

"Bella, you don't have to be embarrassed. I was the one that walked in on you. You have no idea how embarrassing that was for me. So please don't worry about it," I said as sincerely as I could. I wanted her to know that I was being completely genuine.

She sighed but seemed to let it go. Her embarrassment eased as she continued with the game.

Phew! At least I was able to save the date. Otherwise, she probably would've stood up and left my ass there for being a douche!

The waiter came back and brought us our food interrupting our twenty questions game. He tried flirting with Bella again, which made me more upset by the minute. The funny thing was that she didn't seem to notice. When he left, I started to ask her about growing up with Emmett, Jasper, and Rose. She launched into some funny stories about their childhood.

"There was this one time when Jasper had a phase of sticking things up his nose," she said as she burst into giggles.

"Jasper? Are you sure?" I asked. Jasper seemed like the quiet serious type. Sure, he joked around here and there with the guys but he never seemed to be someone who acted out of character.

"I'm serious. He stuck everything up his nose at one point. Let's just say he got extremely familiar with the claw," she said while making a hand gesture like a clamp and started giggling.

I'd have to file that away for later use. I'm sure there would be a point in time when I would need it.

She went to back to eating her food and I couldn't help but watch her. She looked up and caught me staring.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," I replied and looked down at my steak.

She was sitting there thinking for a moment. Then her hand flew to her mouth.

"Oh God! I have something in my teeth, don't I?" she gasped through her hand.

Did she always freak out? It was charming but her response made me burst into laughter. It was completely unexpected but fit her so well.

She started to get up from her seat, so I grabbed her hand to get her to sit back down.

"Bella, you don't have anything in your teeth," I explained through my chuckles.

"Then why are you laughing?"

"You always surprise me with the things that you say and think. I was just not expecting you to think that," I answered honestly.

"Well, I am eating spinach," she explained.

I continued to laugh as she scowled at me. It was fun teasing her.

The rest of dinner flew by as we talked more about our families. After we left the restaurant, we walked in and out of the stores on the Promenade and watched some street performers. It was easy to fall into conversation with Bella. I don't know why I was so nervous about the date. She seemed to be enjoying herself and I was on cloud nine.

We headed over to the pier and I saw a football toss game. I had to play. It gave the opportunity to show off my mad skills and win her a teddy bear.

When we walked by the Ferris wheel, I casually asked if she wanted to try it. But the look of terror in her eyes told me it was a bad idea.

Instead I decided to lead her toward the sand so we could sit and watch the waves. It was one of my favorite things to do. She didn't seem to mind, in fact, she looked like she loved it.

I asked if she knew how to surf and she told me about her clumsiness. I had noticed that about her but I didn't mind it at all. I had to agree with Emmett's assessment that it was probably best for her to stay on land then to try surfing. She was a magnet for danger. What with the football incident before school started and the big bump on her head that I spied the day we went to _TGIF's,_ not to mention her tripping on nothing but thin air. Yeah, it was definitely much better for her to stay on land.

It was peaceful for a moment as we sat and listened to the waves.

"Edward, can I talk to you about something?"

I turned to look at her. The seriousness in her voice caused me to tense up. "Yeah, sure. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"Right. Well, this might be difficult to talk about and embarrassing to say the least. Well, you know how Tanya has this whole stupid team competition that she wrote in her column and people are actually wearing those stupid t-shirts," she grumbled.

What was she getting at? The competition between Jack and me? Was she trying to tell me that she wanted to pick Jack? My stomach clenched into a knot. I silently gulped and I nodded for her to continue.

"I just want to let you know that I don't see you as being in competition with Jack," she clarified further.

I held my breath. She did pick Jack. Why was everyone telling me that she chose me? The high of the evening came crashing down and I felt deflated as my shoulders slumped.

She continued, "In fact, I wanted to explain that Jack and I are just friends. I know you two were close friends at one point and I'm not sure what happened between you two."

What was she saying? I looked at her as her words sunk in.

She only thought of Jack as a friend. I sighed in relief. So where was she going with all of this? She was extremely observant to have noticed the distance between Jack and me. Even our close friends had no idea of our little rift.

"But I have a feeling it's because of this stupid team thing but honestly, I've told him that I only see him as a friend. He's a great guy but I just don't have feelings for him in that way, and I thought you should know or have the right to know so that you guys can work out your differences. And I totally understand if you wanted to even up the score by doing this today. I know how guys can get when it comes to competition an–"

I cut her off.

"You think I asked you out today because of Tanya's column and the scoreboard she has?" I could tell my temper was starting to rise. How could she think that of me? I would never do that to her. Did she think that low of me?

She swallowed, hard. "Well, yeah. I just never expected you to ask someone like me out on a date and assumed it was because of the competition," she blurted out looking down at her feet.

"_Someone like me?"_ I repeated her statement in my mind. Why would she say that? Why would she think that?

I pinched the bridge of my nose and shut my eyes trying to calm myself down.

I let go and turned to look into her troubled brown eyes.

"Bella, I didn't ask you out today because of the competition. And I don't know why you would think that," I chastised lightly.

She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Edward. You're the most popular guy in school who is good at everything – and I mean everything. There isn't anything that you're not good at. And I'm just normal and plain and a nobody. You should be going out on dates with someone like Lauren."

That pushed me over the edge. She really thought that I should be dating someone like Lauren Mallory? She didn't know me at all.

"Are you serious? You really think I should be going out with someone like Lauren?" I sneered.

And why would she think that of herself? Did she not see what I saw in her? I was confounded. Did she always think this about herself?

She shook her head and replied slowly. "Well, okay, let me re-phrase that. Someone in Lauren's league. Like Rose, Kate, and Jenny."

She really didn't see herself clearly.

"First of all, I would never date someone like Lauren. Second, you are not normal and plain and a nobody. You are Isabella Marie Swan. You're beautiful, smart, funny and caring," I gushed like a love struck teenager. I wanted to keep singing her praises. I wanted her to believe everything that I said and wanted her to know how I felt about her.

"And you don't know how long I've waited to ask you to go out with me tonight." This was it. I was going to be honest and was going to tell her how I felt. I was going to tell her everything. Someone had to knock some sense into her.

She was about to ask me a question when I heard a loud shrill voice.

"It's your mother calling! It's your mother calling!"

She began to search frantically in her purse and I realized it was her ring tone. I couldn't help but laugh.

After she talked with her mom, I wanted to bring up the conversation again but it was difficult. What should I say?

_Uh, Bella, I've been infatuated with you for three years and I'm completely yours. _Even I rolled my eyes at that ridiculous thought.

It was getting late and I knew it was time for us to go. I got up and held my hand out to her to pull her up – that same jolt ran up my arm when our skin touched. The walk back to the car and the drive back to the dorms was quiet, and I admit, I was lost in thought. We walked slowly back to her building. I knew I wanted to prolong our time together but I wasn't sure if she felt the same.

When our fellow students started staring again, Bella's body tensed up.

I leaned down to whisper to her, "God, it's like they've never seen a guy or a girl before."

She smirked and I knew my comment helped her feel more comfortable.

We stopped right in front of the door to her dorm building. I wasn't sure what to do next. Would it be too forward if I kissed her?

I wasn't sure what I was doing until I leaned in to give her a hug. She hugged me back tightly.

"Thanks Edward. I had a really good time tonight," she voiced stepping out of the hug and flashing me a big smile.

"I had a great time too," I said returning her smile.

Well, this was my chance to ask her on a second date. I knew I had to do it. I just had to spit the damn words out.

"So I was, uh, wondering…" I ran a hand through my hair, that nervous feeling welling up inside me again. _Get a grip, you moron!_ I couldn't believe how quickly she could reduce me to a quivering mass of uncertainty.

"Would you go out with me again sometime? You know if you're not busy," I added in case she didn't want to. It gave her a chance to bow out gracefully if she wanted to.

"I'm never too busy for you," she blurted out. Then her face turned bright red. I laughed, pretty sure she didn't intend for me to hear that.

"Oh, um. I mean sure. I would really like that," she babbled.

Her words brought the biggest smile to my face. My heart leapt and I felt like I was flying.

Realizing we were at the end of our date, I debated what to do. Do I walk away? Go for broke and kiss her goodnight?

My elated mood gave way to doubt, so I grabbed a strand of her hair and pushed it behind her ear as I stared at her lips. My heart leapt into my throat as I leaned in wanting to kiss her on the lips, but not sure if I should. I've been waiting for this moment for a long time, and yet, I didn't feel it was right. I swallowed hard and kissed her cheek instead lingering there longer than normal.

I stepped away from her. "Good night, Bella."

"Good night, Edward," she breathed as I turned and walked back toward my dorm.

I wanted to jump up in the air and shout at the top of my lungs but I kept my cool. As I walked through the hallway to my room, the sound of my name snapped me out of my Bella-induced daze.

"Edward!"

I turned around and came face to face with Jack. What did he want? And why he was talking to me again?

"Hey," I said. I felt more confident now that I knew Bella's feelings for him were as a friend only. I hoped that the strain on our friendship would ease. I was going to have to talk to him eventually.

"Hey, so listen. I know we haven't talked much lately and I'm sorry for that. I just wanted to check and make sure things were you know… cool between us," he offered shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah," I answered. I wondered if he still had feelings for Bella. She told me her feelings for him ran along the lines of friendship, but I didn't know if he'd ever expressed his feelings for her or if he still had any feelings for her.

He gave me a smile and swung his fist, slugging my arm in a friendly gesture.

"Cool. So, I know it's been awhile but I wanted to talk to you about Stacy," he ventured.

"Stacy? Stacy Perkins?" I teased with a grin.

"Yeah," he chuckled while his cheeks flushed slightly pink. It looked like someone got over his crush on Bella. I was pleased about that and glad to know that Team Beck was official over.

* * *

**A/N: What did you think? Awkward, nervous Edward is my favorite! So cute!**

**And yes, Team Beck is officially over! Woo Hoo! And our Eddie and Jack have made up and don't you just love Edward getting dating advice from Steve? Hahaha ... **

**Next up is the bonfire! **

**Please Review and Thanks for Reading!  
**


	15. More Than Words

**A/N: Happy New Year!  
**

**Thanks again to my wonderful beta, SavageWoman. She's given me some great insight and help with this story and where I'm planning to go with it. Read below to find out.  
**

**Bonfire ... enough said ...  
**

**You must read Ridge Crest Prep first or this story won't make any sense. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Twilight. ****I do own the storyline and any characters that I make up.**

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**Chapter 15 – More Than Words**

**More Than Words by Extreme**

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We arrived at the beach early hoping to get in a few good waves before the rest of the team and the girls showed up. Unfortunately, we were graced with the presence of another group of girls that we hoped would leave us alone.

"Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber are heading over here right now," Scott said zipping up his wet suit.

"Great," Mark mumbled under his breath.

"Ahh! Don't look directly at her or she'll turn you into stone," Brian said loudly causing laughter to erupt among the guys.

"Move out of my way, loser!" Lauren sneered at Brian while glaring at him. Then she walked over to me.

"Hi Eddie," Lauren simpered flipping her hair over her shoulder.

I gave up trying to tell Lauren not to call me that. Her brain just wasn't smart enough to comprehend it.

Her follower, Suzy, stood next to her mimicking the same action. "Hi, Edward."

"Don't address him. EVER! He's mine," Lauren yelled at Suzy who cowered back in fear.

I ignored both of them hoping they would get the clue.

"Are you guys ready to head out?" Emmett called to us.

"Yeah," we answered in unison and grabbed our boards jogging out into the water.

"Eddie, I'll be here waiting for you when you get back," Lauren called.

_Oh, joy … _

"He's not interested, Lauren," Brian stated. I threw him a thankful look.

"What happens between us isn't any of your business, Brian. Besides, Bella Swan isn't enough to hold him," she yelled.

I turned around to face her staring daggers into her eyes. How dare she?

"Bella Swan is a hundred times better of a girl than you will ever be. Don't ever talk about her like that again!" I yelled nearly shouting in her face. I felt Scott's hands holding me slightly back.

"Oh but Eddie, you know it's true," Lauren sneered.

"I am so sick of your crap, Lauren. Just leave us all alone!" I shouted and turned my back on her walking out into the water.

I didn't stick around to hear her response but I could see that she stomped her foot and marched off toward her group of followers. She was clearly delusional and insane.

"You got rid of the witch this time and you didn't even need my help. Nice work, Cullen!" Brian slapped my back as he ran past me and dove into the water.

Diving into the cold icy water, I followed him, glad I was wearing a wet suit so the temperature adjustment wasn't too bad. I swam out to where the rest of the guys were waiting to catch some waves.

Being out in the water helped calm me down and my anger subsided. The quiet rocking of the waves helped me think and my thoughts turned to Bella.

I knew I wanted to tell Bella my thoughts and feelings soon. I owed it to her to tell her how long I've felt this way about her.

Was tonight a good time? We were at the beach, which was our favorite place.

And, I was sure Alice would think it was a good idea. She was practically jumping for joy after what happened yesterday though she reamed me out for kissing Bella on the cheek instead of the lips.

"_I can't believe you just kissed her on the cheek, Edward. Should I start calling you pansy again?"_ Alice snapped at me over the phone last night. She called a little awhile after I had left Bella's place. I'm sure Bella filled her in on what happened.

"I didn't think it was the right time," I hedged.

"_I didn't think it was the right time,"_ Alice mimicked.

"_Stop being such a freaking gentleman for once. You have to kiss her and kiss her good. She has to know how you really feel about her. She thinks you think of her as a friend. A friend, Edward." _

"What?"

"_You heard me. By your smooth move of kissing her on the cheek, she doesn't think you like _like_ her. Now you really need to step up your A-game. When are you going to grow the balls to tell her how you've felt for all this time?" _

"I told you I was going to do it soon," I defended.

"_Yeah, well soon isn't going to cut it. Have you seen the line outside her door? It just keeps getting longer and longer. In fact, I overheard Matt Summers talking about asking her out too, so you better move it!" _she demanded.

That was enough to light a fire under my ass. Regardless of how many people wanted to date Bella, I still wanted to tell her how I felt. That way she can decide what she wanted to do with that newfound information.

It didn't help ease the nerves that were starting to build up in me. Now that our first date was over with and things went smoothly, all I could think about was how to tell her. Would she pick me or toss me aside? That familiar lump in my throat always formed at the thought.

Was I ready for that answer? I gulped and decided that I was. I needed that answer.

"Yo! Cullen!" Emmett shouted snapping me out of my thoughts. He motioned for me to swim over to him. I paddled closer to him.

Jasper was perched on top of his surfboard watching out for waves.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"So… who are you going to take to Homecoming?" Emmett asked eyeing me carefully. I hoped he wanted me to say Bella. But what could I say? I didn't have a clue who I was going with.

"I don't know. Alice is setting me up with someone," I answered truthfully.

He grunted and then shot a look at Jasper. "Jazz, do you know who it is?"

"No, Alice wouldn't tell me. She said I was probably going to tell CNN," Jasper replied and narrowed his eyes at Emmett.

Emmett slapped his hands together and rubbed them throwing us a sly smile. "I'll just have to find out then."

I rolled my eyes before I was struck with a thought – who was Bella going with to Homecoming. I still didn't have the balls to ask her, but I could certainly ask Emmett.

"So do you know who Bella is going with?" I asked.

"I don't know. I don't talk to her about that kind of stuff. Though whoever brings her better not make a move on her or he'll have to deal with me," Emmett all but growled as he shoved his fist into his hand.

I gulped. Even though Emmett approved of me liking Bella, I still couldn't help but imagine his fist connecting with my face at some point in the future.

Then Emmett and Jasper broke out into laughter. "Edward, you should've seen your face!" Jasper howled.

"Chill out, E-man! I already told you, you're cool," Emmett laughed with a grin. "Though if you make her cry, I really will beat you to a pulp." Emmett's voice was no longer teasing.

I nodded in agreement giving him full right to kick my ass if I ever did make Bella cry.

We continued surfing for the rest of the day. Caught up in catching waves, I barely noticed Bella standing along the shoreline watching us surf.

She was a small speck along the shoreline and yet I could easily tell it was her. I quickly waved in her direction not even sure if she saw me, but she returned my wave instantly and gave me a big smile.

That was my cue to go and get my girl.

She continued walking along the shoreline looking lost in thought. I stabbed my board deep into the sand as I jogged after her. She didn't see me creep up behind her as I grabbed her and hoisted her up over my shoulders.

She screamed and started struggling but she wasn't thrashing wildly which I had a feeling it was because she knew it was me.

"Edward! Put me down!" she hissed.

"Not yet!" I teased as I was bringing her closer to the water.

"EDWARD! DO NOT THROW ME IN!" she shouted. She started to flail her legs but I grabbed them to stop them from moving. I walked deeper into the water trying to scare her.

"Edward!" she warned.

I knew I wasn't going to throw her in. I didn't want her to kill me. I could feel her body tense up trying to brace for the impact of the icy cold water. I shifted her position so that she was sitting in my arms bridal style. She scrunched her eyes up tight and had the cutest little pout on her face.

Then she slowly opened one eye and then the other before she realized she wasn't wet.

"Edward! That was mean!" she pouted.

"So now I'm being mean by not throwing you in? Okay, then," I said as I slowly started to loosen up my grip on her. I could feel her tightening her arms around my neck.

"Oh no you don't! You are bringing me back to dry land, buddy," she ordered causing me to laugh.

"Yes, Ma'am!" I agreed as I turned away from the water and started walking back up toward the beach.

"So how was su–" A big wave of water engulfed the both of us, cutting off her voice. I knew the water was cold but I was wearing my wet suit, whereas she was wearing board shorts and a tank top over her bikini.

I wasn't sure if she was going to be upset but I looked down at her and saw that she was sputtering and spitting out salt water. It was actually a pretty funny sight.

Not wanting to let her go, I carried her over to where Emmett, Jasper, and Scott were standing. I continued to hold her in my arms. It was like we were in our own little bubble, staring and smiling at each other. I found myself wishing we could stay like this forever.

Then Emmett coughed and cleared his throat making me realize that we weren't alone.

I saw Bella's face turn bright red realizing that others were watching our interaction. I slowly put her back down on the ground.

She asked us about surfing as she untied her hair letting it fall loosely around her shoulders.

So completely mesmerized by her, I wasn't sure what was going on around us. Scott's large hand slapped hard against my back knocking me out of my ogling.

"Dude! You have got it bad!" he said snapping me out of my thoughts. I followed after them grabbing my clothes so I could change.

As soon as we finished changing, Emmett made a beeline for the food. I started to walk over to Bella until my sister tackled me before I could get there.

"Edward! Go sit over there next to Bella. It'll give you the chance to talk to her," she whispered.

"That's what I'm trying to do, if you'd let me," I grumbled..

"Oh, okay. Oh, and kudos to you for the Hallmark moment. It was so cute," she gushed.

"You saw that?" The guys weren't going to let this one go. I'm sure they'd let me know how p-whipped I was every chance they got.

"Everyone saw it. Now go get her!" she giggled slapping me on my arm and then running off into Jasper's arms.

I walked over to Bella and plopped down in the empty chair next to her.

I apologized for getting her wet, which didn't seem to mind. And then I asked her if she was hungry. When she said she wasn't yet, I took that as my cue to show her a place that meant a lot to me.

I got up from my chair and reached out to help her up. I clasped her hand in mine and didn't let go. I wasn't sure if she minded, so I looked at her to see her reaction. The huge smile spread across her face told me everything I needed to know.

I led her over to an area of brown rocks that I liked to go to after a day of surfing. It was a nice place to watch the sunset and I knew she would enjoy it. She was hesitant climbing the rocks at first, but I held onto her tightly making sure she wouldn't fall.

Her face lit up at the sight below us that she seemed to be really happy. I was about to tell her everything. It was the perfect time but I stopped myself. I don't know why. I think it was because I was still nervous about what her answer might be.

Then I heard her sigh and I could see her shoulders slump in defeat.

"What was that about?" I blurted out without thinking. I realized that I did this a lot when I was around her. I was usually more guarded and careful with my questions around other people, but for some reason, I let all the walls down when I was around her.

"Oh, nothing." She avoided my gaze. It was times like this when I would get frustrated not knowing what was going on inside of her head.

"What were you thinking about?" I pressed hoping that she would give me an answer.

"Just how different things are for me this year." What did she mean by that? Was it good or bad?

I asked what was going on inside her head and wondered if she would let me in, but she joked around saying that she had an extremely strange and over-reactive imagination. Was that why she was always pinching herself?

I wanted to burst out laughing but I threw her a comforting smile. "Well, I do see you pinching yourself a lot."

She looked shocked that I had noticed. Her cheeks flushed a slight pink color. "Well, you have good eyes then because I didn't think anyone else noticed."

I was about to tell her that I always noticed everything she did like the way she would bite her lip when she was nervous, or avoid someone's gaze when she lied, or play with the hem of her shirt when she felt uncomfortable. I wanted to tell her all those things but then we were interrupted.

"Hey you two! Time for dinner!" Alice yelled walking along the sand hand in hand with Jasper. I was about to glower at that damn pixie for interrupting us but she was too busy running back toward the fire pit.

Silently cursing Alice in my mind, I took Bella's hand and led her over the rocks and back to the beach.

"Alice is so loud! I can't believe we heard her all the way up there," Bella laughed.

"Tell me about it. I think she was born with an extra set of lungs. I have no idea how we are even related." I shook my head chuckling.

"She's definitely unique. I've never met anyone like her."

"Yeah, she's one of a kind." _Just like you._

As we walked closer to the pit, I focused all my attention on Bella. It wasn't until I felt Bella's hand tense that I looked up to see all of our friends staring at us with cheesy grins on their faces.

Suddenly very aware of Bella's hand in mine, – I hadn't let go of her hand since we left the rocks – I had no plans of letting go this time. I wanted her to know that I thought of her as more than just a friend. She didn't seem to mind which made my heart race.

We grabbed some food and then sat down around the fire pit. I looked around at the group and spotted Jack moving in closer to Stacy. He saw me watching him and gave me a quick nod, which I returned, grateful he seemed to get over Bella so quickly. He gave a smile to Bella. She returned his smile with a wistful one of her own. She looked happy, probably glad that he moved on.

I spotted Scott and Brian as they closely watched Lauren and her group of friends. Scot was whispering to Brian, who was nodding his head with a conspiratorial look on his face. This did not look good. Whenever both of them were scheming, something bad always happened.

A loud nasally scream pierced the air. I turned to see Lauren jumping up and down clawing at her skin.

What on earth was her problem? I turned to see Brian and Scott smirking at each other. Something was up.

Then Brian turned to me giving me an innocent look. "What?" he mouthed.

"Lauren, what is it?" Suzy asked her.

"There's sand crabs all over me!" Lauren yelled screaming and flailing her arms around herself.

"God, Lauren! You don't have to share with everyone your personal STD problem!" Brian shouted.

"Like we want to know!" Scott added.

Lauren glared at the both of them before running off toward the restrooms. Everyone laughed, even her own group of friends who weren't fans of Lauren either. She constantly yelled and screamed at them.

Once the laughter died down, Brian took out his acoustic guitar. He always played it whenever we came to the beach.

He strummed on his guitar playing _Collide _by_ Howie Day_. He was usually able to get everyone to sing with him.

I could see Bella shivering from the cool breeze coming off the water, so I wrapped a blanket around the both of us. I looked at Alice who was beaming at us, but then she narrowed her eyes as if something was wrong. Glaring at me, she hugged her arms around herself, and then looked pointedly at Bella. I stared at her for a moment trying to figure out what she meant. She repeated the motion, exaggerating wrapping her arm around herself before looking at Bella. Just as Alice started to get aggravated, the light bulb went on in my brain.

I gave her a slight nod of understanding before I slowly stretched out my arm and rested it around Bella. It was cheesy move but I couldn't think of any other way to do it without being obvious. I turned to look at Alice who rolled her eyes at me and tried hard not to laugh out loud.

Bella seemed to relax into me, which only made me happier knowing she felt comfortable around me.

I could hear Lauren cursing behind me but I didn't care. She could make all the noise in the world; it wouldn't change a thing.

Brian started playing _More Than Words_ by _Extreme, _which couldn't have been more perfect for the situation.

I could hear Bella singing along softly and her voice sounded beautiful. I tightened my grip around her pulling her closer to me hoping she would know how I felt just by that simple gesture. She didn't flinch or move, so I took it as a good sign.

After Brian finished playing his guitar, Emmett jumped in saying something about scary stories.

Bella groaned into my shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Emmett has the scariest stories. I hate it when he tells them," Bella mumbled.

"It's okay. I'm here." Like that would do anything to keep her from being scared, but I thought it might help.

As Emmett started his story about Tillie, I could feel Bella tense up beside me. I held her closer to me hoping to calm her down.

When Emmett got to the scary part of the story, all the girls screamed loudly. What I didn't expect was Bella jumping up screaming in my ear, grabbing my shirt in a vice grip, and burying her face in my chest.

The guys and I laughed at their reactions. It was pretty funny to see the girls completely scared out of their minds.

Then Bella looked up at me and quickly let go of my shirt, smoothing it over.

"Oh, um. Sorry about that," she muttered.

She was shivering again. I could feel goose flesh break out against her arms so I started to rub them hoping to warm her up.

"It's okay. I didn't think you'd be that scared, but I think I'm deaf now!" I said rubbing my ear.

She laughed. "I'm so sorry. Emmett always has a way of freaking me out when it comes to his scary stories." She glared at Emmett who just shrugged his shoulders giving a goofy grin to everyone as Rose smacked him on the back of his head.

The beach was going to close soon, so we started to clean up and head back to the cars.

I was busy helping load up the cars and feeling a little bummed because my time with Bella was over. That is until I found out that I was going to ride back to school with Bella alone in her car. Everyone else had found rides with other people.

_Was it that obvious that I wanted to be alone with her? _

Alice skipped away from us giving me a sly smile like she had planned this all out. I knew I would be getting a call from her later tonight to find out what happened.

I offered to drive the car for Bella so she could rest, but we ended up chatting the entire way back to school.

As I pulled her car into the school parking lot, I berated myself for not telling her on the ride home how I felt about her. I could see the others starting to get out and unload their cars. It was now or never; I had to tell her.

"Edward, are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine. I'm just thinking about something." I gave her a nervous smile. My stomach clenched into a tight knot. I had never been this nervous about anything in my life.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she offered.

That gave me the chance to say something. This was it. I was going to tell her.

"Yeah, I've been wanting to tell you this for a long time now and I'm not sure what you think. But right now, I'm going to take a leap." I rubbed the back of my neck trying to calm myself down.

"Bella, I reall–"

**BAM!**

Bella screamed and jumped in her seat grabbing onto her chest. I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared as well. We turned to look out the window and saw Emmett pointing and laughing at us.

_Damn it! He had to ruin the moment! _

She rolled down the window and yelled at him, "EMMETT!"

"You should have seen your faces! That was classic!" Emmett howled with laughter.

Bella rolled the window back up and turned to face me.

"I'm so sorry about my eight-year old brother. What were you saying?"

The moment was lost, along with my nerve. I couldn't tell her anymore. It just wasn't the right time and it felt wrong for me to say something.

"Never mind. It wasn't anything important," I said trying to give her a smile. She didn't seem to push me any further on the topic as we got out of the car and unloaded her things.

I could see Alice throwing me a thumbs-up sign questioning me with her eyes, but I slowly shook my head no. She frowned and then motioned that she would call me later.

Great. I would never hear the end of it from her.

**

* * *

**

"_Edward! I still cannot believe you haven't said anything!" _I had to pull the phone away from my ear because Alice was shouting so loudly.

"It wasn't my fault. Emmett had to interrupt our conversation!" I defended.

"_Yeah, but there were so many times when you could've told her, like when you both went out to the rocks or on your way back home," _she lectured.

"Well, you interrupted us on the rocks, and if I told her on the way home and she felt uncomfortable, can you imagine how bad that car ride would've been?" I argued.

"_You're thinking too much into it! Anyways, hopefully on Saturday, you'll get the romantic setting that you want and then you can finally tell her,"_ she chirped.

"What are you talking about? Homecoming is on Saturday. Which reminds me – you haven't even told me yet who I'm going with. For all I know, you could've set me up with someone like Jessica Stanley. You know what, forget it. This is the one time I have off this year from dance duty, so I'm not going to go." I finally had to put my foot down on Alice's stupid ideas.

"_Oh, you will want to go, my dear brother. And do you really think I would set you up with someone like Jessica Stanley? Puh-lease! Have more faith in your sister! I'm not that bad, am I? Have I steered you wrong all this time?"_

I grunted into the phone acknowledging that I agreed with her but not by a long shot. She was getting on my last nerve.

"_I'm getting sick of your complaining, so I'm just going to tell you then. And for sure you will go. I have no doubt about that. And if I tell you now, you'll have all week to prepare for Saturday, so drum roll please."_ She paused and did a fake drum roll against what sounded like her desk.

"_I scored Bella as your date. Thank you very much. Thank you," _she said.

Did I hear her correctly? Bella was my date to Homecoming?

"_Hello? Earth to Edward? Are you still alive and breathing?" _

"Yeah, I'm here. You really got Bella to go with me to Homecoming. Does she know?" I questioned.

"_No, she has no clue. I kept it a secret from her. She hasn't been complaining as much as you have so I never had to spill the beans to her." _

"Isn't she at all curious? I mean, you could've set her up with Mike Newton."

"_But I didn't set her up with Mike Newton. She said the exact same thing to me. God, you two are seriously made for each other," _she giggled.

There was a long pause and then I heard Alice sigh.

"_What's wrong, Edward? I can practically feel the creases in your forehead from the other side of this line." _

"She never asked me if I was going to Homecoming. If she's not curious, she probably doesn't care if I'm going. Are you sure she's going to be okay with this?"

"_Edward. She will be more than okay with this. Trust me. And, she never asked you because she's probably scared you're going to tell her that you're going with someone else. Not that she would have to ask you. I mean seriously, if you were taking someone else, it would've been plastered all over Tanya's column." _

Alice was right. If Bella wanted to know whom I was taking, she could've found out from the column so that was probably why she never asked me.

"_Stop worrying so much about it, Edward. Just be ready to pick her up on Saturday. I already have your outfit picked out, which I will bring over to you on Wednesday. Good night!" _she said as she hung up the phone.

I was going to Homecoming with Bella. I wanted to celebrate. It would be the perfect time to tell her. It's about time that I said something.

* * *

**A/N: So after a long decision, I've decided to end King of Ridge Crest Prep with the next chapter which is Homecoming. I won't be going any further into EPOV as I originally planned so it will not mirror Ridge Crest Prep (BPOV). **

**I might still have one-shots here and there but I think I'm just exhausted with my stories right now and I am trying to finish the other two that I have. I might go back and finish this one after I'm done with Ridge Crest Prep but it won't be for awhile later. Thanks for understanding. If you have a specific scene you want to read about in EPOV, please let me know and I'll think about doing it as a one-shot. **

**Thanks again for all your support! **

**Please Review and Thanks for Reading!  
**


	16. Stolen

**I'm back! After a long long absence, I have gotten back to writing and will be finishing up my stories. I'm so sorry for the long wait. **

**This chapter was not beta'd. Sorry for the mistakes! **

**I have decided to complete this story with this chapter. I will not be continuing with this portion of the story told in EPOV. Ridge Crest Prep, told in BPOV, will be completed up until the end of the school year. **

** Disclaimer: ****I do not own any Twilight. ****I do own the storyline and any characters that I make up**. 

* * *

**Chapter 16 – Stolen**

**Stolen by Dashboard Confessional**

* * *

"What about an auction?" one of the ASB officers shouted out in our brainstorming session for fundraisers.

"What would we auction?" I asked.

"Dates!" another officer shouted out. The entire room started to buzz with chatter.

"That is a GREAT idea!" Amy Manning, the Vice President of ASB, shouted enthusiastically while clapping her hands together. She had a gleam in her eye as she turned to me.

"Edward, we can auction off a date with _you_ and we would make a gazillion dollars!" Her excitement started to roll off on the other officers as everyone started talking at once and the buzz of the room grew louder.

There was no way that was happening. There was only one girl that I wanted to go on a date with at this school and I didn't want her to pay for it.

I pounded the gavel on my desk. I hated using it but sometimes it was necessary.

I cleared my throat. There were times when I had to be more assertive and this was one of those times.

"It's a great idea but I don't think we would get school approval for it. Right, Ms. Dalton?" I turned to look at our faculty advisor giving her a smile. It always worked when I needed her to side with me on a controversial subject. She was always the final approver.

She was staring at me but there was no response.

"Ms. Dalton?" I called out to her again.

Someone tapped her on the shoulder which jolted her out of her daze. "Oh, um, yes. That is correct, Edward," she seemed slightly flustered as she looked down at the floor and muttered to herself.

_Okay … _

"Next idea then," I shouted out.

I avoided Amy's glare as I turned to face the entire room. She would get over it.

"Bake sale?"

A chorus of no's echoed throughout the room.

"We could sell gift wrap."

Another chorus of no's.

"Candy?"

More sighs. We were getting nowhere.

"Well, let's take some time to think about more ideas. We still have a while to come up with something. Next on the agenda, is Homecoming," I said hoping to divert the subject. Amy narrowed her eyes at me knowing full well that I was changing the topic of discussion.

Loud mumblings filled the room as the excitement for Saturday's dance filled the air. We spent the remaining time discussing the details of the dance. The bell rang and everyone started getting up from the desks to leave to their next class. I gathered up my things quickly and left before Amy could say something to me. She was nice but pushy at times.

* * *

I was pacing back and forth in my room wondering what I was going to do about Saturday. Bella still had no clue that I was going to be her date and tight knots were starting to form in my stomach. What if she didn't want to go with me? What if she took one look and was disappointed? She was extremely hard to read so I had no way of knowing what she would think about the entire situation.

I sighed figuring it was useless to stay in my room and dwell over things that were out of my control. I walked into Brian and Mark's room and was accosted with loud sounds of gunfire and bombs. Mark and Scott were playing _Call of Duty_ with their eyes glued to the television screen.

"Hey guys, what's up?" I said walking into the room.

A chorus of jumbled greetings called out at me as I surveyed the packed room.

Emmett was sitting on Mark's bed and had his cell phone attached to his ear but he looked like he was listening to something more than talking. I noticed Embry, Seth's best friend, sat next to him and was trying to talk on his cell phone. What was going on?

"So, uh … um …" Embry said sounding nervous. I raised an eyebrow at Emmett curious about what was happening. Emmett covered his cell phone with his hand and leaned over to whisper to Embry.

"Dude, tell her that you want to know if she already has a date on Saturday _but_ make sure you say that you feel bad for asking late, girls love that stuff."

Embry nodded and cleared his throat before speaking into his cell phone.

"I'm sorry that this is so late but I was wondering if you had a date to Homecoming on Saturday."

Emmett went back to listening on his own cell phone and then slapped Embry hard on the shoulder and threw him a thumbs up sign.

"What noise?" I heard Embry say anxiously. The girl must've heard Emmett as Emmett pushed the phone away from him and covered his mouth and nose to stop his breathing before putting the phone back to his ear.

"Uh, um, it was probably just static. So what do you say about Saturday?" Embry said quickly trying to save the conversation as Emmett nodded back to him with a sign of approval.

I shook my head and was glad that I didn't have to resort to having Emmett eavesdrop on my phone conversations with Bella. Though I admit, I was pretty close to being that desperate at one time.

I turned to my right and saw Brian and Jack talking to Seth in the corner of the room. "What's up, guys?" I asked.

"Edward, my man, you showed up just in time," Brian said.

"Seth is trying to figure out some mysterious text messages he's been getting from a girl in his Math class," Jack said with a smug smile.

"Oh really?" I turned to Seth raising my eyebrows.

"Okay, so I like this girl and I think she's cute. I wanted to see if she was busy last Saturday after the game so I texted her. Hi. Exclamation Mark. Are you busy after the game? Smiley Face." Seth said gesturing with his hands the punctuation mark and smiley face.

"So then she writes me back and says. Hey. Period. I'm going out with some friends. No smiley face. Nothing. What do you suppose that means?" he asked sounding frustrated.

"That is a classic burn, dude. I don't think she's interested," Brian replied.

"What if is she's just a bad texter?" I added. The guys turned to look at me like I had grown a third head and then shook their heads.

"Bad texter? Is there even such a thing?" Brian asked.

"Not uh, not possible, Edward. Girls love to text," Jack replied.

"Well, you didn't see these other text messages. She includes smiley faces and sounds like she's interested," Seth said digging out his cell phone to show Brian and Jack.

I raised up my hands in defeat since this was out of my league and walked back over to Scott and Mark and decided to join in on the game to distract myself. I didn't want to think about my own problems with a girl but all the girl advice that was going on in the room was giving me a headache.

* * *

"_You remember what I told you to do with your hair, right?"_ Alice ordered over the phone.

"Yeah, if it'll stay in place," I huffed ruffling my hands through my mop top hair.

"_It better! Tonight will be a night you won't forget. Trust me. I laid everything out for you. Just put on the costume and meet the guys so that you come together to the dorm to get us."_

"Thanks for everything, Alice. And you did an amazing job on the costumes. I don't know how you pulled it off in such a short time."

"_Wait to thank me later after you see what Bella is wearing. I really like her, Edward and I'm glad that you picked her. See you later, big brother!"_ she chirped and then hung up.

I threw my phone on my bed and turned to look at the outfit that was hanging on my closet door. I was nervous wondering what was going to happen tonight. What would she think when she found out I was her date? Would she run away screaming? Or would she be happy?

I was driving myself insane with all the rambling thoughts going on through my mind. Today was the day and it had finally come and I was going to do something about it.

After a shower and shave later, I put on the outfit and went to work on my hair. It was everywhere. I slathered on a good amount of gel to finally get it in place.

I looked in the mirror making sure I had everything.

"Bite the Bullet. Suck it up. Man up." I mumbled to myself. It was a mantra that I had in my head these past few days to finally tell Bella how I felt.

I grabbed the black jacket lying against the back of my chair and walked out the door. I found Jasper and Steve standing up against the wall in the hallway wearing their costumes. Steve was wearing a green military uniform while Jasper was dressed as a sailor.

I looked and saw most of the guys in the hallway walking around getting ready in similar outfits. Very few guys had a similar costume to what I was wearing.

"Hey Edward," Jasper said fidgeting with the hat he was wearing. Steve gave me a slight nod and then looked at what I was wearing.

"How do you get to wear a normal suit and we get these outfits?"

Emmett walked out of his room and closed the door.

"What's wrong with these? I like them!" Emmett said doing a salute with his hand.

"The material is itchy and wearing a suit looks better," Steve said adjusting his green tie.

"The designer is my sister, remember? And since when do you care what you look like? You have Jenny remember? She obviously could care less what you're wearing," I replied.

"Good point. Are you ready to go?"

We all nodded and headed out of our building. My heart started to race quickly.

"So Bella has no clue that you're taking her tonight?" Steve turned to ask me.

I shrugged my shoulders not sure if Jasper or Emmett had said anything to her.

Emmett clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "She has absolutely no clue and I can't wait to see her face when she finds out!" he exclaimed.

I wasn't sure if that was meant to be a good thing or bad thing. Jasper sensed my slight hesitation and whispered, "We want to see her happy."

From his answer, it gave me more confidence that this felt right and that things were finally starting to fall into place.

As we reached the building we saw a storm of girls racing through the halls and floors. Some were getting picked up by their dates while others still had curlers in their hair.

It was a mad house. When we reached Bella and Rose's door, Emmett knocked on it. Rose opened the door, which caused him to whistle loudly. I was too busy staring at the floor and trying to sort out my nerves. One by one the guys picked up their dates as I tried to figure out what to say or do. Finally, as soon as Jasper and Alice left my view I saw her.

She was beautiful in every sense. Her long brown hair was curled into rolls and a fresh white flower was pinned at the base of her neck to hold half of her up while the rest of her hair cascaded down her shoulders. She was looking down at the floor. Her black and white dress matched my black and white suit perfectly.

My hands were starting to get clammy and I almost started to panic not knowing what to do. I threw my jacket over my shoulder and propped myself up against the doorframe. That would at least help with the nervousness.

She still didn't look up so I knocked softly on the door. It was at that moment that I was glad I was leaning up against the door because I was swept off my feet.

Her pale white skin glowed and her lips were colored bright red. I always thought her big brown doe eyes were her best feature and tonight they were stunning.

I heard someone clear their throat in the background before bringing me back down to reality. How long was I standing there staring at her?

I knew I had to say something.

"Hi Bella. I'm here to pick you up for Homecoming," I said nervously trying to gauge her reaction.

"You're my date?" she asked quietly. I wasn't sure what to make of the quiet tone in her voice. Was she disappointed?

I cleared my throat. "Yeah. Is that okay?"

I prayed that she would at least be okay with it.

"Hell, yeah, that's okay!" she exclaimed and then slapped her hand to her mouth.

That threw me off completely. She was happy and she was excited. More than excited. She looked exuberant.

I had to stop myself at laughing at my negativity from earlier and because she was so adorable.

Then she cleared her throat and said, "Oh um, I was just surprised. I thought you had ASB stuff to do during the dances."

I gave her a huge smile. "I got this year off dance duty since I'm President this year."

She returned my smile and I just had to tell her how beautiful she looked. "You look …" I paused.

Words couldn't describe how great she looked. "Gorgeous," I finished in awe of the beauty before me.

"You clean up pretty nice yourself too," she said.

Alice interrupted us giving us both a grin reminding us that we had a dance to get to. I took Bella's arm in mine and lead her outside the building and toward the gym.

I noticed people staring at us but I didn't care. I had the most beautiful girl in the world by my side and I couldn't think of anything else but her.

As we got closer to the gym, our group paused to take in the sight before them. It was decorated like a 1940s movie set. Vintage cars were setup outside for display and the walls were lined with 1940s posters. We wanted to make it look as authentic as possible and I think we did just that.

Swing music was playing loudly and once we stepped inside it felt like we were transformed back into that timeframe. A twenty-person big band was playing at the front of the gym on a high stage. People were already dancing and doing flips and lifts in the air to the music. Our sports coaches were walking around with clipboards writing down notes and grading everyone.

Emmett and Rose ran off first, followed by Jasper and Alice. I looked to see Bella completely amazed by the décor. This was her first dance so she was never aware of how our school went all out for the dances.

I put my hand on the small of her back and guided her to a table nearby. Jenny and Steve quickly put down their things and ran off to the dance floor. I set down my hat and blazer and grabbed Bella's hand.

"Let's go!" I tugged her onto the dance floor shaking her out of her slight daze.

I could tell she was slightly nervous and tense. She definitely wasn't alone as I started to feel nervous as well. I had only practiced dancing with Jenny since she was my partner in gym. I took a deep breath as Jenny caught my eye giving me a wink and a nod of encouragement before I pulled Bella closer into me and started to take the lead.

I gave Bella a big smile and could tell that she relaxed instantly. That was all I needed to get us moving around the dance floor. After a couple more songs and after the coaches finished examining us, we ended up taking a quick soda break.

I left Bella with the girls as I headed over to the soda fountain with the guys.

"Hey, Guys!" Jack called out wearing a similar sailor costume as Jasper's. He walked by with Stacey linked to his arm and had the biggest smile on his face.

Steve turned and talked to Embry who was standing by the bar counter. "So you made it out, huh? I take it she said yes?"

Emmett walked over to Embry and slapped him on the back. "Where is she? I want to see who has you whipped at the reins."

They started talking about Embry's date as I turned to Jasper waiting for our drinks.

"Are you going to tell her tonight?" Jasper asked.

His question threw me off guard. I still wasn't that close to him but he was always around with the guys now. I could tell he sensed my apprehension as he added, "Your sister tells me everything. I hope that's okay."

I knew she probably did. I didn't mind so much but it was odd talking to him about Bella when I originally thought they were a couple. I knew that he was Bella's best friend and I tried not to let that bother me.

"If the timing is right," I said.

"Good. You should. She's crazy about you."

Crazy about me? Before I could ask him more about that, the bartender gave us our sodas and we all started to walk back to the table.

I gave Bella her glass bottled Coke as she stared at it in shock. She was really blown away by the dance and it made me laugh at her amusement.

We all went back to dance again and before I knew it, Principal Walker and Ms. Dalton went up on to the stage stopping the music. I didn't let go of Bella's hand and I hoped that she was okay with it. She didn't seem to mind, which made my confidence grow. If she did have the same feelings for me, I had to say something tonight. I couldn't stand it any longer.

"Attention students, thank you all for attending today. You have impressed all of us with your dancing. We would like a round of applause for ASB and their wonderful transformation of the gym tonight. We would also like a big round of applause for the band that we have hired, who has done an amazing job." Principal Walker had said into the microphone as applause rung out around the gym.

"It is now time to announce the Homecoming King and Queen," Ms. Dalton exclaimed looking like she was about to burst from all the excitement. She did this at every dance and I wasn't sure if it was because she got to crown the King. I know from the times that I've won that I could've sworn she inhaled the scent of my hair but I tried hard not to think about that. The woman was crazy.

I secretly hoped that we didn't win. I just wanted to be alone with Bella and if I had won and she didn't win, that would make it nearly impossible for us to talk. If we both won, it would also be hard to talk to her since every eye in this room would be trained on us and I didn't think she would want that attention especially when I was about to spill my guts out to her.

A drumroll started in the background as Ms. Dalton yelled into the microphone. "Homecoming King this year is … Mr. Emmett Swan!"

I sighed in relief knowing that Emmett won. Cheers and clapping resounded around the room and I could feel Bella giving my hand a squeeze. She knew I was relieved that I didn't win and yet she was fine with that.

Emmett ran up to the stage grabbing the crown out of Ms. Dalton's hands and placing it on his head. Ms. Dalton looked extremely disappointed and I hoped it was because she couldn't crown Emmett.

There was still the Queen announcement and I was getting anxious that Bella might actually win. "This year's Homecoming Queen is …"

I saw Lauren Mallory walking up to the stage before Ms. Dalton even finished her announcement. "Ms. Rosalie Hale!"

I could hear Bella sigh in relief but then started to cheer and clap for her best friend. At that moment, I knew the singer we had hired for the dance would come out and start singing as the King and Queen took to their dance.

I decided it was time. And I gathered the courage for me to be alone with Bella so I could tell her everything.

I bent down and whispered in her ear. "Do you want to go outside?"

"Sure."

I led her outside to the courtyard. We had decorated it in twinkling white lights that cast a light glow across the grey concrete. There were only a few other couples out here slow dancing to the music. I pulled Bella into me as we started swaying to the slow jazz music playing softly in the background. As the singer started to sing "Dream a Little Dream of Me" a few more couples came out to dance in the courtyard. It was beautiful and I knew it was perfect.

_Stars shining bright above you._

_Night breezes seem to whisper, 'I love you,'_

_Birds singing in the sycamore tree._

_Dream a little dream of me_

I pulled her closer to me hoping she would rest her head on my chest. She felt at ease and when she did settle in against me I dropped my chin on top of her head. Even with other couples around us, it felt like it was just the two of us in our own bubble. Our own world.

_Say nighty-night and kiss me._

_Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me._

_While I'm alone and blue as can be,_

_Dream a little dream of me._

With the intensity of the moment, I lifted my head to look down at her and as she looked up at me, my green eyes met the deep brown eyes that I had always dreamed about. I knew right there how she felt and I had no other reason to hold back.

_Stars fading, but I linger on, dear,_

_Still craving your kiss._

_I'm longing to linger 'till dawn, dear,_

_Just saying this  
_

I leaned my head closer to her and I took her soft lips against mine. My world was spinning. I had waited for this moment for so long and it was more than I dreamed of.

_Sweet dreams 'till sunbeams find you,_

_Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you._

_But in your dreams, whatever they be._

_Dream a little dream of me_

I gently placed my both of my hands around her face cupping her chin. I stroked my thumbs against her cheeks as our lips moved together deepening the kiss. I didn't want to stop but I knew we had to come up for air.

I leaned my forehead against hers and before I could say anything she spoke first.

"Wow!"

"Wow doesn't even describe it," I mumbled.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting to do that," I said pulling away from her looking into the depths of her eyes.

Then she did something unexpected. She started giggling. I don't know what she found funny about the situation but it wasn't until she reached up and wiped off her red lipstick off me that I felt my cheeks burn.

"How long have you been waiting?" she asked.

_Sweet dreams 'till sunbeams find you,_

_Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you._

_But in your dreams, whatever they be._

_Dream a little dream of me_

_(Dream a Little Dream of Me – Ella Fitzgerald)_

The song had ended right before I gave her my honest answer. It was time for me to come clean and yet I was terrified that I might scare her away.

"Exactly 3 years, 6 weeks, 3 days and 12 hours."

From the look of shock on her face, I knew she was scared. I was about to tell her to forget what I said. Maybe even throw a laugh out and joke around about it.

She noticed my apprehension so she quickly responded before my thoughts started to go downhill. "No, that's not what I meant. I'm flattered. Very very flattered. I was actually surprised and I have a confession to make."

I looked at her in confusion. What confession?

"You see, I have had the biggest crush on you for exactly 3 years, 6 weeks, 3 days and 10 hours."

What? Did I just hear what I think she just said?

"I'm just surprised how you are 2 hours ahead of me," she said with a smile as a familiar adorable blush colored her cheeks.

Bella Swan, the girl that I had been crushing on since I went to Ridge Crest Prep felt the same way about me this entire time. We had wasted so much time and yet I was glad I finally said something to her.

The whole situation made me laugh but I grabbed her quickly in a tight hug hoping that she wouldn't let go.

"So do you really mean it? I just don't want to wake up if this is a dream," she mumbled into my chest.

I pulled back and looked her straight in the eyes. "I really mean it. I have liked you since the moment that I saw you 3 years ago in the parking lot on the first day of moving into the dorms."

"Ah, that explains the two hours ahead of me. I didn't see you until lunch at the food court," she confessed.

"Of course everything intensified after we became friends this year," I said as she nodded in agreement.

"Why didn't you say anything to me? Why didn't you talk to me?" she asked.

Her curiosity made me laugh. "I could ask the same of you."

I continued on, "I was scared all these years because I thought you were with Jasper. I wasn't for sure and didn't want to intrude. And you didn't seem like you were open to meeting anyone so I kept it to myself and admired you from a far. And I was so focused on school and sports. I didn't want to have any distractions but I knew I had to do something about it this year. I was actually really glad that we finally had classes together this year. It gave me the excuse to talk to you. That was why I sat next to you in both of the classes that we had."

She looked happy and smiled as she said, "I was scared too. I mean I admit that it was a crush at first not like the fan club that you have but a crush from a far like you said. But after getting to know you, it's something more. Much more."

It was much more. And as the night carried on, I knew my life was changed. I knew that the rest of my time at Ridge Crest Prep would never be the same as Bella opened a door to a whole new world.

* * *

**A/N: That will be all from EPOV for this story. ****I hope this side of story brought shed some light into the other side of the world of Ridge Crest Prep.**** Thank you for reading and for your reviews! And for all your support! **

**Thank you to SavageWoman for helping me with this side of the story and building it to where it needed to get to. I truly appreciate your help in editing and for staying with me and my crazy ideas! Thank you to Lili26 for translating this in French and for being patient with my laziness! **

**And the example above with Seth's conversation and decrypting mobile text messages ... I actually got that from a guy friend who was that straight to the point with asking me about how to decode a text message from a girl. He went through it word for word and punctuation marks too ... it does happen in real life, believe it or not! **

**Thank you again! Now on to update Ridge Crest Prep! **

**-Stephanie **


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